Japan’s largest integrated steelmaker, Nippon Steel, is keeping its H-beam prices unchanged for domestic spot sales this month, the company announced on December 21, making for the eighth successive month that it has rolled over its beam prices. The decision had already been communicated to traders and distributors.
In a statement, Nippon Steel said that it will closely watch the market response to price increases executed to date. “However, as the price remains high, the company will consider whether to raise the price next month and after that,” it explained.
The steelmaker will also monitor the arrival and delivery of cargoes, as well as H-beam inventory levels among its distributors and continue to keep deliveries to “the minimum amount possible.”
Nippon Steel says its list prices are a company secret, but as of Wednesday, deals for SS400 grade 5.5/8 x 200x100mm H-beams in Tokyo were still being transacted at Yen 125,000-126,000/t ($954-962/t), unchanged for three months, but up by Yen 7,000/t since May.
Meanwhile, Nippon Steel Structural Shapes, Nippon Steel’s subsidiary in Wakayama in western Japan, has also rolled over its H-beam prices for December sales.
On the latest data from Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF), Japan produced 316,500 tonnes of H-beams in October, higher by 0.6% on year but up by a large 8.3% from September. The JISF will announce its November production data on December 22.
“Demand for large-scale steel construction projects is solid,” Nippon Steel declared in its statement. “Regarding medium-sized steel construction projects, demand continues steadily, particularly factory and warehouse projects, (while business for) small-sized steel construction projects, which affect the cargo movement in the market, remains stable, surpassing the projects of the previous year.”
Coinciding with its price announcement on Wednesday, Nippon Steel revealed that H-beam stocks held by its Tokiwakai grouping of distributors had risen as of end-November, albeit by a tiny 1.4% from the previous month to 186,600 tonnes. As of end-October, Tokiwakai stocks had dipped by 1%, as Mysteel Global reported.
But the steelmaker was unperturbed, saying that stocks remained “at an appropriate level” and stating that the inventory ratio among group members was 2.56 months, up only 0.06 percentage point from the previous month.
Moreover, fabrication activity among steel frame manufacturers for large-scale building projects had “fully started” from the second half of the current fiscal in October, and “it is expected that manufacturing will continue at a high level.”
Meanwhile, on December 20, Himeji-based mini-mill Yamato Steel announced that it was also keeping prices of its H-beams and I-beams unchanged for December spot sales for orders booked before December 26.
Written by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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