Bloomberg reported that Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co will raise steel prices by as much as 9.9% for the fourth straight monthly increase as material costs climb.
Mr Naoto Ohori MD of Tokyo Steel said that the prices of all products, including construction beams and hot coils, will be increased for May 2010 contracts by between JPY 3,000 a tonne and JPY 7,000. The steelmaker is also exporting automotive steel to China and Thailand to tap demand in Asia.
Asian steelmakers are raising prices to pass on increased raw material costs, including coking coal, to their customers. The price of scrap steel, a key purchase for electric furnace mills such as Tokyo Steel, is also climbing.
Mr Ohori said that "It's becoming clear that production costs will go up significantly, as demand for steelmaking ingredients persists due to a global demand recovery of steel products."
The price of H beams, used in construction, will be raised 6.8% or JPY 5,000 a tonne to JPY 79,000 and hot coils by 5.9% or JPY 4,000 to JPY 72,000. Steel plates will rise by JPY 4,000 or 5.6% to JPY 76,000.
Tokyo Steel is exporting about 1,500 tonnes of steel samples for Chinese auto parts makers and it has had inquiries from a Thai parts maker for 5,000 tonnes.
Brazil's Vale SA, the largest iron ore supplier, last month broke a 40 year custom of selling products at fixed annual contracts and won a 90% price increase from Japanese mills for a three month agreement that started on April 1st 2010.