Nippon Steel to Hike Plate, NO Electrical Steel for Japan Buyers

Nippon Steel announced on Tuesday the firm increases the selling price of plate steel by 15,000 yen per tonne for distributors and steel structural fabricators for March order or April shipment. The firm increases the selling price of non-oriented electrical steel by 15,000 yen for domestic contract buyers for April shipment. The firm tries to secure margin enough to keep stable supply when the raw materials cost would increase for fiscal 2010 starting April.

The firm will offer higher price for plate contract buyers including shipbuilders and machinery makers. The firm operates the plate mills at full capacity due to strong demand for China and East Asia while the domestic inventory adjustment is completing despite of the slow demand.

The firm eyes additional price hike for plate depending on the raw materials cost and supply condition. The firm will also increase the export price of non-oriented electrical steel by around US$ 200 per tonne for buyers other than Japanese transplants for April shipment.

Steel making raw materials cost increase worldwide under growing steel demand. The firm offers higher price for steel products to cover higher raw materials cost and to adjust the lower domestic price than international level.