Monday, May 16,
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co , Japan’s biggest construction steel maker, cut its prices for all steel products for the first time in seven months.* as it looks to head off imports and deal with softening demand.
“The market is facing a turning point,” Naoto Ohori, managing director at Tokyo Steel, told a news conference on Monday.
“Imports of some products are rising fast due to a strong yen, reconstruction work (after the March earthquake and tsunami) won’t start in earnest until next year and car output will stay at a low level for a while. There is no good news.”
The firm said it would cut prices for June shipment by 5,000/MT to counter rising imports and to cope with declining demand in the domestic market, marking the first across-the-board drop in prices since November.
Tokyo Steel said it lowered its price for H-beams, used in construction, to 76,000 yen ($941) per tonne, saying reconstruction work following the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan has been delayed.
Source: Reuters
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