Weak H-Beam Price in Tokyo

H-beam market price is weak at around 127,000 yen per tonne for base size when the price down pressure by the buyers increases after 10,000 yen price cut by Tokyo Steel Manufacturing. The price already peaked and could decrease under slow building demand. The building start for steel structure increased for 3 months in a row around Tokyo, which is sign to recover from slump after start of new building standard law in June 2007. However, some developers stop and postpone the building plan due to slower economy. The distributors’ H-beam inventory improved to 1.8 months of shipment at end of July around Tokyo. Nippon Steel cut order receipt form to distributors by 20-30% in June from May and by additional 20-30% for August. The firm tries to improve the supply balance to meet the low level demand. However, sharp drop of ferrous scrap price impacts on the market after the scrap cost lifted the market earlier the year. The dealers try to avoid the insolvency of the buyers by selecting the orders while some dealers reduce the price to as low as 123,000 yen per tonne for healthy buyers.