Tokyo Steel Starts Rolled Column Production

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japanese largest electric furnace steel maker, enters steel tube business with investment of 15 billion yen. The firm is introducing productive facilities at Tawara Works to manufacture square steel pipe including steel rolled column. The firm will start the production in March 2010 and the sales at the end of 2010. The firm plans the output volume at 100,000 tonnes per year, supplying the products mainly for dealers.

Mr. Naoto Ohori, Tokyo Steel’s managing director, said the firm starts steel pipe production to meet the requirements from the customers, mainly stock dealers of H-beam. Tokyo Steel plans to sell square steel tubes used as columns as well as H-beams used as steel frame materials to increase both sales by synergetic effects.

Tokyo Steel plans to obtain 3 standards; STKR 400, STKR490 and BCR 295. The firm can start the actual sales of the products 6 months later than the production start because the productive data collection is required for the standards.

The firm will manufacture square steel pipe with 7 sizes; 150 x 150 millimeters, 170 x 170, 200 x 200, 250 x 250, 300 x 300, 350 x 350 and 400 x 400. The thickness range will be 4.5-22 millimeters with the maximum length at 16 meters.

Domestic demand for rolled column is 300,000 tonnes or less in Japan. The market price currently keeps flat at 95,000 yen per tonne. Japanese major rolled column makers are Nippon Steel & Sumikin Metal Products, JFE Steel, Maruichi Steel Tube and Kyoei Kenzai and Nakajima Steel Pipes.