By Agency reporter

Tuesday, 23 Nov 2010

Tokyo: Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Company, Japan‘s largest electric-furnace mill, maintained December prices for most steel products in response to slowing demand, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Prices for H-beams, used in construction, will be kept at 67,000 yen ($803) per metric tonne and hot-rolled coil will stay at 59,000 yen, Tokyo Steel said on Monday in a briefing in Tokyo.

The cost of scrap iron that the company uses at its Okayama plant has climbed by 3,500 yen, or about 12 per cent, since October 21. The company decided not to pass on increased material costs to buyers to keep from losing sales to competitors as the steel market slows, Managing Director Naoto Ohori said.

Tokyo Steel raised the price of wire rods by 2,000 yen to 68,000 yen per tonne for December contracts. The price of deformed bars will climb by 2,000 yen to 52,000 yen per tonne, it said. The company kept the rest of its steel products unchanged from November.

Baoshan Iron & Steel Company, China‘s biggest publicly traded steelmaker, kept December prices for most products unchanged from November.

Tokyo Steel shares, which have fallen 14 per cent this year, rose 3.2 per cent to 903 yen at 10.59am on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

 

Source: Punch