Japanese steel producer Tokyo Steel has rolled over steel prices for domestic sales in July, keeping its prices stable for the second month in a row, despite bearish sentiments in the global market. The construction steel industry in Japan is providing some support for steel consumption in the country.
Tokyo Steel’s H-beam prices have remained at JPY 124,000/mt ex-works, which is now $918/mt, while rebar prices are at JPY 102,000/mt ex-works or $755/mt. “As for construction steel, due to strong demand for large-scale projects, steel material orders are proceeding smoothly… On the other hand, due to a slight delay in small and medium-sized projects, the movement of cargos in the market at the moment is a little slow… But in the future, it is expected that the market will improve as the supply-demand balance will be better amid the summer production cuts,” the company said. Though prices in JPY are stable for two months in a row, the dollar equivalents of H-beam and rebar prices are $72/mt and $59/mtr lower than in April due to sharp exchange rate fluctuations.
In the flat steel segment, the situation is worse, apart from heavy plate. Tokyo Steel has rolled over prices for HRC with thickness above 1.7 mm at JPY 123,000/mt ex-works, while the dollar equivalent of the price has slipped to $911/mt. “Thin plates [and coil sales] are still delayed amid the failed recovery of production of automobiles… and the market inventory is also at a high level,” Tokyo Steel said.
In April, Tokyo Steel increased all major product prices by JPY 3,000/mt, following an increase of JPY 7,000-10,000/mt in March, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.