OREANDA-NEWS. April 04, 2012. Industry insiders expected the profit margin of domestic steelmakers to improve in March since the producers have successively raise their ex-works prices while raw material costs are virtually unchanged.

Shagang, Yonggang and other mills in East China have increased the ex-mill price of long products by up to 300 yuan a ton since early March.

As of March 24, mills in Tangshan bought iron concentrates with 65 percent Fe content for 1,250 yuan a ton. The ex-works prices of second-grade metallurgical coke were stable at 1,950 yuan a ton in Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong and Henan.