Tokyo Steel Cuts Plate Price by 6,000 yen/t for February

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing announced on Monday the firm reduces the plate selling price by 6,000 yen per tonne while raises the rebar selling price by 3,000 yen and sets the selling price unchanged for other items against distributors for February orders. The firm increased the rebar price for 2 consecutive months when the firm had decreased the price in advance. Meanwhile, the company reduced the plate price for the first time with easier supply and demand balance. Naoto Ohori, general manager of the firm, said the inventory adjustment in the market is progressing for long products but delayed for flat products.

The rebar price is set at 57,000 yen per tonne February orders, H-beam at 78,000 yen, hot-rolled coil at 67,000 yen and plate at 80,000 yen. The firm will wait and see for the export price until after Chinese New Year. It is unclear whether Asian orders are actual or speculate. The firm didn’t change the spot sales price of H-beam at 82,000-83,000 yen per tonne and rebar at 62,000-63,000 yen for February orders.

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing plans crude steel production at 150,000 tonne per month for January-March, decreasing by 50% compared with the peak in August 2008. The firm would increase the export for January-March every year but the firm will adjust the supply since export circumstance is worsening with higher yen rate or slower demand in the world.

The firm initially planed H-beam output at 80,000 tonnes in December 2008 but increased the output to 90,000 tonnes actually when electric power charge price was expected to rise after January. The firm expects to decrease H-beam output to 60,000 tonnes in January, hot-rolled coil to 50,000-60,000 tonnes and plate to 20,000 tonnes.