Kobe Steel to Hike Steel Wire Rod Export by US$ 150/t

Kobe Steel concluded the export negotiation for special steel wire rod, the material for steel code, to increase the price by over US$ 150 per tonne for July-September shipment from April-June. The firm raised the export price by over US$ 200 for April-June from the previous quarter. The price will become to soar by total over US$ 350 since April. The firm is continuing the price negotiation for wire rod cold header products.The orders for steel code wire rod doubled for January-June 2008 compared with the same period of last year, according to Kobe Steel. Steel code makers accepted the price hike to secure enough wire rod. The supply is expected to keep tight in Japan. Kobe Steel seems to keep the export volume for July-September unchanged from April-June in order to meet strong demand from domestic market.