Peaking H-Beam Price around Tokyo

H-beam price is flat at 69,000-70,000 yen per tonne for base size around Tokyo. Some dealers try to increase the price to 73,000 yen. However, the price would stay flat at around 70,000 yen and could decrease depending on Tokyo Steel Manufacturing’s new price announced in later the month when ferrous scrap price is decreasing.

The dealers hiked reselling price of beam after the makers increased the price by 5,000 yen for order in September. The dealers avoid the lower price transactions at around 65,000 yen. However, the dealers cut the price for some transactions from 70,000 yen. They cannot fix the higher price under very slow demand.

The inventory held by dealers at the end of September was at the same level as in August. The dealers reduced the purchase volume while the sales decreased by around 5% in September from the previous month.

The order receipt of big 50 general contractors decreased by 25% in August from a year earlier, which showed year-on-year decrease for 10 months in a row. The price of steel-frame work is decreasing from 130,000-140,000 yen per tonne with increasing competition among the fabricators. The users strongly oppose beam price hike by the dealers while the dealers try to increase the reselling price of beam when makers’ selling price is slightly more than 70,000 yen.