Kobe Special Tube Raises Stainless Steel Tube Price by 10% in April

Kobe Special Tube, Japanese special steel tube maker, raises seamless stainless steel tube price by 10% for domestic users which is dealers, re-rolling maker and specific users in April order. The firm will start the price negotiation with users from this week.The firm is purchasing the material from Kobe Steel. The material price is increasing when iron ore and coal price is largely rising and Kobe Special Tube is purchasing from other steel maker due to tight material supply.The firm raised the selling price in February order. Moreover, with more rising material and fuel price, the firm decided the price hike in April order.The demand for seamless stainless steel tube keeps strong for energy industry such as electric power plant or oil and chemical plant. The firm will increase the output to 1,700 tonnes per month from 1,350 tonnes in the last half of fiscal 2008 at the ended of March 2009.