Posted on 21 Jan 2025
Tokyo Steel has decided to maintain offers for the fourth consecutive month for February sales. It says overseas markets remain in wait-and-see mode and domestic demand was still subdued as well, Kallanish notes.
Its February base price for rebar, H-beam and plate is still at JPY 88,000/tonne ($564/t), JPY 115,000/t, and JPY 103,000/t respectively.
In overseas markets, the Chinese market is trending weak with the Chinese New Year approaching by the end of January. The inauguration of a new administration in the USA is bringing more uncertainty to the steel industry as well.
In the Japanese domestic market, construction steel demand remained sluggish due to high construction costs especially for small and medium scale projects. Flats demand was also lacklustre at the beginning of the year although the inventory of major sheet products already slipped below 4 million tonnes and thick plates inventories were also decreasing as manufactures were in winter maintenance
But the steelmaker mentioned that there was a need for new investment in large projects, such as logistics warehouses and data centers, as well as manufacturing-related construction projects, which potentially could boost construction demand in the future.
Source:Kallanish
