Beijing negotiates price hikes with steel companies

Five of China's top governing bodies, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's main economic planning body, met with major domestic enterprises in sectors such as iron ore, steel, copper and aluminum.

In addition to the NDRC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, all of which are the governing bodies of the non-ferrous metals industry. ferrous metallurgy enterprises, national commodity prices, state-owned enterprises, futures markets and securities markets, respectively.

It was pointed out at the meeting that the rise in domestic commodity prices was driven by a combination of many factors, including the rippling impact of surges in world prices, but excessive speculation also played a role as it disrupted normal production and business orders.

Thus, large enterprises in China-related sectors of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy are asked to help in the sequential development between mining and processing, to take a leading role in maintaining order in the market for wholesale goods and prices, to refrain from any illegal actions such as the market price manipulation, rumor, valuation or accumulation.

Relevant regulators will closely monitor the movement of prices for wholesale goods, increase supervision and apply zero-tolerance practices in addressing a range of misconduct, including abnormal trade and malicious speculation.

Since May 12, various top governing bodies in China have repeatedly warned of excessively high commodity prices, expressly expressing their determination to prevent the negative impact of commodity prices on downstream industries or the consumer price index.