Nippon Steel Increases Steel Tube Price by 10% for Jul-Sep

Nippon Steel decided an additional price hike for steel tube rolled in July-September and started price negotiations with domestic users. The price hike range is about 10% compared with April-June, covering all items including forge weld steel tube, electric resistance welded steel tube, seamless steel tube, UO pipe and bending rolled tube.

Domestic steel tube demand maintains weak for building construction and civil engineering. Meanwhile, the demand is slightly recovering for construction machines and overseas plants. Steel tube makers are adjusting output volume in balance with the actual demand. Steel tube inventory is not surplus. Additionally, raw material prices are expected to increase more. On the other hand, steel sheet and plate demand is tightening, main materials for steel tube.

Nippon Steel reflects high raw material costs on steel tube price for stable supply. The firm offered previous price hike by 20% for April-June and almost penetrated among dealers and specific users. Nippon Steel’s price hike totals 30% since the end of fiscal 2009 ended in March 2010.