H-Beam Price Rises by 1,000 yen/t in Tokyo

H-beam market price increased by 1,000 yen to 76,000 yen per tonne around Tokyo after Tokyo Steel Manufacturing increased the selling price by 2,000 yen for March order. The major H-beam maker increased the price by total 5,000 yen through the hikes for 3 months in a row. The market expects the integrated steel makers could increase the selling price when the selling price is around 5,000 yen lower than that of Tokyo Steel. The distributors try to increase the reselling price to 77,000-78,000 yen in March. The distributors around Tokyo passed the higher cost price with the higher market price but they could cover only 2,000 yen per tonne of hike by integrated steel makers in autumn 2006. Tokyo Steel is minor around Tokyo against dominating Nippon Steel but the 5,000 yen hike by Tokyo Steel impacted on Tokyo’s market. South Korean makers’ H-beam export price is FOB 700 per tonne and US domestic market price is US$ 750 under strong demand. Tokyo Steel tries to increase the domestic selling price to the international level. Under the condition, domestic integrated steels are expected to increase the selling price. Distributors’ H-beam shipment decreased by 14.2% to 25,719 tonnes around Tokyo in January from December, according to Tokiwa-kai, which is group of distributors dealing Nippon Steel’s products. The low level demand keeps in February. However, Nippon Steel cuts the distributors’ order by 20-30% since November 2006 to reduce supply. The lower supply could keep the supply balance supporting the market.