Tuesday, April 12,
Nippon Steel Corp , the world’s No.4 steelmaker, will leave its prices for H-beams used in construction for April shipments unchanged from March, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.*
The company had raised the prices of H-beams by a cumulative 20,000 yen in the past four months to pass on higher iron ore and coal costs, but that has widened its price gap with smaller domestic rival Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co , sources have said.
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan’s biggest construction steel maker, last month said it would keep its April H-beam price unchanged at 81,000 yen a tonne.
Nippon Steel has not disclosed the price of its H-beams, although sources have spoken of the percentage change.
Tokyo Steel said the cost of steel scrap, a key steelmaking ingredient for the electric furnace steelmaker, had declined following a massive earthquake on March 11 and that the strong yen was threatening to open the door for cheaper imports.
Nippon Steel will reveal the level of its domestic H-beam inventories on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters
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