Japanese steel mills eying 20 pct hike from April – 28 Feb 11

Nikkei business daily reported that facing rising material costs, Nippon Steel Corp will ask auto makers and other major customers to accept a price rise of roughly JPY 20,000 per tonne (USD 242) for steel products starting in April 1st 2011. It said that Nippon Steel plans to propose the hike, which translates to a 20% jump, as early as mid March.
Reuters also reported that Japan''s JFE Steel Corporation will raise prices of steel sheet for sale through distributors by JPY 20,000 per tonne from April 2011, signaling to high volume contract users such as Toyota Motor Corporation the level of price hike it seeks.
Japanese steelmakers and carmakers usually set contract prices for steel sheet for the six months to September after costs of iron ore and coal are set.

(Source: www.steelguru.com )