Steelmakers raise prices again

Increase in the cost of raw materials now being passed on to customers
China's major steelmakers raised prices for a third straight month as downstream demand became stronger and raw material prices continued to rise.
Baoshan Iron &Steel Co, the nation's largest publicly traded steelmaker, raised prices for hot-rolled products by 300 yuan ($50.85) a ton and cold-rolled prices by between 260 and 300 yuan a ton, backed by strong demand from the automobile and construction industries. Baosteel supplies half of China's automotive steel.
The hike was followed by Wuhan Iron &Steel Co which raised wire bar prices by 200 to 300 yuan a ton on Monday.
The producer price index (PPI), the main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 6.6 percent in January year-on-year while the consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 4.9 percent during the same month, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday.