Tokyo Steel to Raise Rebar by 2,000 yen/t

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing announced on Monday the firm increases the selling price of concrete reinforcing steel bar by 2,000 yen to 54,000 yen per tonne for distributors for January order, which is the first hike in 7 months. The firm left the price unchanged for other items. The firm reduces the raw steel output by 30% to just more than 200,000 tonnes in December from a year earlier eyeing further production cuts depending on the market.

The firm keeps the spot selling price at 60,000 yen per tonne for rebar and at 83,000 yen for H-beam. The firm sees the order receipt from distributors is very low when the dealers try to reduce the inventory. The firm cannot get export order for 2 months due to financial trouble for the offshore buyers.

The firm will extend the operation stoppage during the yearend and New Year holiday. The firm plans to stop the operation for 2 weeks for Okayama plant and for a week or more for Kagawa, Fukuoka and Tochigi compared with regular 4-5 days stoppage. The firm reduces the output by 20,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes for H-beam in December from original plan. The firm eyes additional production cut in January-March depending on the order.