Nippon Steel to hike H Beam price by JPY 5000 for February

TEX reported that Nippon Steel Corporation is contemplating executing a domestic price increase of H beams by JPY 5,000 per tonne for its February supply contracts toward a recovery of H beam prices at a cave in level due to slack domestic demand. For an indicator, the current H beam market in the Tokyo area is assessed at around JPY 62,000 per tonne.

With a favorable level of export demand for H beams, H beam production from domestic steelworks is recovering, NSC points out. But the company finds it difficult to fulfill its responsibility for H beam supplies unless a certain recovery of prices shapes up, given a tight flow of crude steel at its works. By comparison, overseas market conditions for H beams are trending upward in prices at a time when demand for building materials is expanding thanks to a recovery of infrastructure demand in various nations.

Meanwhile, according to NSC, Japan's Tokiwakai group of domestic steel distributors held in stock a total of 215,200 tonnes of H beams across the nation at the end of January 2010, down 13,700 tonnes or 6% from a month ago. The Tokiwakai group is concerned with domestic sales of steel products from the nation's largest integrated steelmaker.

As a result, Tokiwakai's H-beam stocks decreased for three consecutive months since the end of November 2009.

In the breakdown by main trading areas, Tokyo accounted for 48,900 tonnes, down by 4,600 tonnes or 8.6% MoM, Osaka 51,700 tonnes, down by 5,400 tonnes or 9.5% MoM and Nagoya 25,600 tonnes, down by 1,200 tonnes or 4.5% MoM.

(Sourced from TEX Report Limited)