Steel prices to be stable: BlueScope

BlueScope Steel, Australia's largest steelmaker, said demand for the metal will remain at higher levels in the third quarter of the year, helping to support prices.

BlueScope raised the prices of most of its products in the April-to-June quarter and they will likely be "stable'' in the next few months, Kirby Adams, chief executive officer of the Melbourne-based BlueScope Steel said.

"There's nothing to indicate that global demand for steel is any less than it was,'' said Adams at BlueScope's Western Port steel plant in Victoria state.

"The supply and demand data do not suggest any particular pressure to cause prices to go up, or excess for prices to come down.'' Rising demand in China and India, the world's fastest-growing major economies, has prompted steelmakers, including Arcelor Mittal and Posco, to raise prices globally.