One of the leading Japanese steel producers Tokyo Steel kept its local finished steel prices unchanged for March delivery for the fifth straight month.
In the Japanese domestic steel market, overall demand has been slack since the beginning of the year. The construction market has entered the off-season period before the Tokyo Olympics: however, small and medium projects have started to give inquiries before the active construction period of April-June. In the flat steel segment, inventories have remained at a high level despite some declines. The uptrend seen in January reversed after the holidays due to the coronavirus and “the outlook is unpredictable,” Tokyo Steel stated.
Tokyo Steel’s rebar and H-beam prices have stayed at JPY 62,000/mt ($564/mt) ex-works and JPY 83,000/mt ($755/mt) ex-works, respectively. Prices for HRC with thickness above 1.7 mm are at JPY 67,000/mt ($610/mt) ex-works.
Despite negative demand signals, falling international prices and the sharp drop in local scrap prices since early February, the company believes that the situation need to be watched before any price adjustments are made. Moreover, it seems that scrap prices have already reached the bottom in the Japanese market as they are lower compared to prices in the export market, Tokyo Steel stated.
$1 = JPY 109.878