Low Carbon Steel Wire Price Keeps Flat in Tokyo

Low carbon steel wire market price keeps flat in Tokyo at 91,000 yen per tonne for standard products with 4 millimeters diameter and at 83,000 yen for products adopting to general purposes.Japanese wire rod makers sustained their selling prices after they raised the prices in spring 2005. The price gap widened between domestic and overseas wire rod. Wire rod inflow increased from overseas to Japan as a result. Domestic demand for civil engineering stayed low and the prices of secondary products decreased by using cheaper wire rod from overseas. Consequently the market price of low carbon steel wire could not increase so far.The wire rod import seems to turn to the decrease because the wire rod price is currently rising in China, the main exporter of low carbon wire rod to Japan. Toyo Wire, Japanese major steel wire maker, announced the firm raises its selling price for August shipment with anticipation that the import might decrease in the short term. On the other hand, dealer source said there is no sign the market price increases. The dealers are unlikely to pass the increasing prime costs on their reselling prices easily.