Japan: Nippon Steel keeps H-beam prices unchanged for Aug sales

Nippon Steel, Japan's largest integrated mill and a leading H-beam producer, has decided to roll over its H-beam prices for the fourth month for August domestic spot sales, to give the market another month to digest the previous hikes. But the company also emphasized the needs of additional price hikes to secure adequate profit margins.

Nippon Steel Structural Shapes, Nippon Steel's subsidiary in Wakayama in western Japan, has also decided to keep its h-beam prices unchanged for August, but it claimed the rise in costs such as power charges, distribution fees, rebounding scrap prices and others.

Nippon Steel and its subsidiary last added Yen 5,000/tonne ($36/t) for their Aprils sales, but they had kept the prices unchanged since then.

Both companies do not reveal their list prices, but as of Thursday morning, deals for SS400 grade 200x100mm H-beams in Tokyo were being transacted at Yen 125,000-126,000/t, up Yen 2,000/t on month, sources confirmed.

Nippon Steel's H-beam rival, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, had decided to roll over its September domestic sales prices of H-beams for the same size at Yen 124,000/t on Monday, as reported.

A Tokyo-based construction steel trader shared that demand of H-beams has been firm and it is expected to rise in the second half of the current fiscal year (October-March 2023), so supply will become tighter.

"We expect market prices to rise with declining stocks, and H-beam producers will decide to make additional hikes in the coming months," he predicted.

By end-July, H-beam stocks held by Nippon Steel's Tokiwakai group of some 90 distributors across Japan totaled 186,300 tonnes, down 1.2% on year and 1.1% lower on month.

"Nippon Steel's H-beam stocks may be lower than the adequate level amid firm demand and tight supply, so market prices will rise further," the trader added.

Meanwhile, Nippon Steel will continue to lift the prices of project-based H-beams after it had added a total of Yen 35,000/t including higher extra charges since April, according to the company.

Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.