Nippon Steel Offers Hot Coil Hike to over US$ 1,000/t to Korean Re-rollers

Nippon Steel started price negotiation of hot-rolled steel coil for July-September shipment with South Korean re-rollers such as Hyundai Hysco. Nippon Steel offered more than FOB US$ 1,000 per tonne, increasing by over US$ 250 compared with April-June shipment to reflect the cost expansion for steel materials such for iron ore and coal and the upsurge of international steel product prices. South Korean re-rollers are disapproving the hike when South Korean steel market price is cheaper than international price.Hot coil price is around US$ 1,020 per tonne in USA and 660 euro (about US$ 1,014) in Europe. Asian price is also exceeding US$ 1,000 in some areas. On the other hand, South Korean hot coil price is 700,000 won per tonne (about US$ 671) by POSCO and 830,000 won (about US$ 796) by Hyundai Steel. South Korean re-rollers are trying to raise the selling price while suffered from the hard price competitions.The re-rollers prefer stable procurement of Japanese hot coil due to the influence of electric furnace revamping by POSCO. Nippon Steel aims to follow the upsurge of international steel prices while consider long-term relationship with South Korean re-rollers.