Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd , Japan’s top electric-arc furnace steelmaker, said on Monday it would raise its product prices in December by up to 4.8 percent due to tight market conditions at home and abroad.

The company will boost prices of all its products in December by 3,000 yen ($26.8) per tonne, or by 3.2 percent to 4.8 percent. It held its product prices unchanged in November after raising them in the previous two months.

“Demand in Japan’s local market has been strong on the back of a series of redevelopment projects in central Tokyo and construction projects related to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” Tokyo Steel’s Managing Director, Kiyoshi Imamura, told reporters.

“We have been also receiving many inquires from overseas customers as China continues to slash its export,” he said, predicting that the healthy trend in steel market will continue through next year.

Prices for steel bars, including rebar, will increase by 3,000 yen, or 4.8 percent, to 65,000 yen ($580.4) a tonne, while prices for U-shaped steel-sheet piles will rise by 3,000 yen, or 3.2 percent, to 96,000 yen a tonne.

Tokyo Steel’s pricing strategy is closely watched by Asian rivals such as South Korea’s Posco and Hyundai Steel Co, as well as China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd(Baosteel).

 

Source:reuters.com

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