Tokyo Steel says to raise product prices for second month

[TOKYO] Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan's top electric-arc furnace steelmaker, said on Tuesday it would raise its product prices for a second month in October due to higher overseas prices and a tight domestic market.

The company will boost prices on all its products in October by 3,000 yen (S$36.27) per tonne, or by 3.3 to 5.1 per cent.

It increased its product prices in September by up to 5.4 per cent.

"Overseas steel markets have been on an upward trend thanks to China's strong local demand and a continued decline in exports from China," Tokyo Steel's managing director, Kiyoshi Imamura, told reporters.

"Japan's local market has been tightening on the back of solid demand," he said.

Prices for steel bars, including rebar, will increase by 3,000 yen, or 5.1 per cent, to 62,000 yen a tonne, while prices for U-shaped steel-sheet piles will rise by 3,000 yen, or 3.3 per cent, to 93,000 yen a tonne.

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

REUTERS