Posted on 20 Jul 2023
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan's largest independent mini-mill, has decided to keep the list prices for its entire product catalogue unchanged for August sales, saying that it wants to monitor changes in the steel supply-demand balance and market conditions generally.
Tuesday's announcement for August business is in stark contrast to that Tokyo Steel had made a month ago for July sales where the mini-mill slashed prices of several items by as much as Yen 12,000/tonne ($86/t), as Mysteel Global reported.
The company's rollover means its price for 9-40mm thick heavy plates to 1,524mm width stays at Yen 118,000/t, that for its 1.5-1.7 mm pickled coils up to 1,600mm wide remains at Yen 115,000/t, and that for D13-25mm rebars holds at Yen 98,000/t.
"In the domestic market, ......freight movements of steel materials remain sluggish on the whole, business conditions lack excitement, and the steel market is soft," the company said in a statement. "(Although) we expect an improvement in the domestic product market due to another decrease in distribution inventories, the number of existing contracts for imported steel products has begun to increase and is expected to continue for some time," it warned.
Tokyo Steel was echoing the comments of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) last week when tabling its forecast for demand for steel products during the current July-September quarter, Mysteel Global notes.
"Overall, steel demand is on a gradual recovery trend centering on automobiles, but future prospects are uncertain, and a downside risk remains," according to METI's metal industry division head, Daisuke Matsuno.
Japanese demand for steel products is expected to total 22.31 million tonnes this quarter, up 2.2% on year but down 0.5% from April-June, according to the forecast. "As a result, there is a high possibility that annual demand may dip below 90 million tonnes," he warned.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Steel expects that prices of ferrous scrap, its primary input material, will stay stable for the foreseeable future, especially when domestic mills will reduce production soon and conduct maintenance to avoid paying high summer rates for electricity. "It depends on the (Yen-US dollar) exchange rate, but we believe that the market price for scrap will remain unchanged for the time being," it said.
Tokyo Steel's August finished steel list prices (incomplete)
Product | Yen/tonne | $/t (equivalent) |
Galvanized coil (SGC400, 0.6-0.7mm) | 141,000 | 1,014 |
Pickled cut sheet (SPHC, 1.6mm 914x1,829mm) | 124,000 | 892 |
U-sheet pile (SY295) | 139,000 | 1,000 |
Square pipe (TSC295, 150x150mm, 6mm thick) | 128,000 | 920 |
Pickled coil (SPHC, 1.7-6mm) | 113,000 | 813 |
Hot cut sheet (SPHC, 1.6mm,914x1,829mm) | 114,000 | 820 |
I-beam (SS400, 150x125mm) | 132,000 | 949 |
Plate (SS400, 9-40mm) | 118,000 | 849 |
H-beam (SS400, 100x200mm) | 127,000 | 913 |
HRC (SPHC, 1.7-22mm) | 105,000 | 755 |
Channel (SS400, 100x50mm) | 123,000 | 885 |
Rebar (SD295A, 13-25mm dia) | 98,000 | 705 |
Source: Tokyo Steel Manufacturing
Source:Mysteel Global
