Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel), the nation's largest listed steelmaker, decided to raise the ex-factory price of its major products for February delivery on Monday, amid rising prices of iron ore.

The price of hot-rolled coil was raised by 160 yuan ($25.70) per metric ton, cold-rolled coil increased by 120 yuan per ton and aluminum-zinc coated steel sheet went up by 120 yuan a ton.

The upstream raw material price surge, rising prices of spot steel products as well as the optimistic expectation toward the steel market have led to the latest price increase, said Hu Yanping, steel analyst with Umetal.com. Hu predicted that other steel mills will follow Baosteel.

"Baosteel has raised product prices for three consecutive months, and this means the steel plate market has greatly improved since the fourth quarter of 2012," said Qiu Yuecheng, senior analyst at www.96369.net, an e-commerce platform with a steel background.

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