Tokyo Steel product prices unchanged in January for second month

TOKYO : Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd, Japan's top electric-arc furnace steelmaker, on Monday said it will hold steel product prices steady in January to ensure an increase implemented in November would be absorbed by the market.

This is the second month the company has kept prices unchanged for all of its steel products, including its main H-shaped beams.

For January, prices for steel bars, including rebar, will remain at 89,000 yen (US$785) a tonne while H-shaped beams will stay at 111,000 yen a tonne.

Domestic demand is strong, helped by a series of public works and construction projects by private companies as well as improving demand for shipbuilding, but some projects have been delayed because of shortages of labour and materials while slow output in automobile production caused a build in inventories of some sheet products, the company said in a statement.

Tokyo Steel's pricing is closely watched by Asian rivals such as China's Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel) and South Korea's Posco and Hyundai Steel.