Japan: Nippon Steel lifts extra charges for steel sheets by 30%

Nippon Steel, Japan's largest steel sheet pile producer, has decided to adjust its extra charges for steel sheet piles by 30% and aims to complete the adjustment by end-September. Nippon has also started negotiating with general contractors and construction material lease companies, a company official shared.

Nippon Steel had added a total of Yen 35,000/tonne ($258/t) to its steel sheet pile and pipe pile prices to transfer the rise in production costs and adjusted extra charges for steel pipe piles by 30% by the end of May.

"The previous hikes including base prices and extra charges were not fully agreed by customers, but our production and operation costs had been rising further. So we decided to adjust extra processing and distribution charges for steel sheet piles by another 30%, and we really need customers to understand our cost situation," the official explained.

A construction steel trader in Tokyo observed that demand of civil engineering materials including steel sheet piles and pipe piles had been stable, so Nippon Steel must have been trying to lift prices to secure adequate profits as early as possible.

"And Nippon Steel is the largest supplier of such civil engineering materials in Japan, so its price policy will impact other producers' prices," he added. And he estimated that Nippon Steel holds more than 60% share of Japan's steel sheet pile market.

Nippon Steel does not reveal its exact product prices, but Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan's largest electric-arc-furnace steel producer, tabled the SY295 grade U-sheet pile price for August sales at Yen 136,000/t, as reported.

The latest data from Japan Iron & Steel Federation showed that the country produced some 175,600 tonnes of steel sheet piles over January-June, down 30.9% on year.

The trader attributed the decline to the high base in previous years because demand related to reconstruction works following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 had peaked after a decade and was seen slowing down.

"But Japan's national resilience plan for five years (2021-2025) is ongoing, so demand of civil engineering materials will stay firm," the trader predicted.

Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.