Japan: Tokyo Steel rolls over steel prices for May'23 deliveries

Tokyo Steel, Japan's top electric arc furnace steelmaker, has rolled over its steel prices m-o-m for May 2023 sales. It may be noted here that latest prices were announced today.

Effective prices-

• HRC (1.7-22mm): JPY 115,000/t ($858/t)
  
  
• Rebar (D13~25): JPY 103,000/t ($769/t)
  
  
• H-beam (100-300mm): JPY 127,000/t ($948/t)
  
  

Factors behind roll over in prices:

1. Global steel market sentiments remain subdued: Prices in the global market have either declined or remained unchanged. For instance, China's Shagang Steel has reduced rebar prices by RMB 100/t ($15/t) to RMB 4,350/t ($633/t) for mid-April 2023 sales. Prices are ex-mill, including VAT.

On the other hand, Baosteel, world's top steel manufacturer, has rolled over its monthly HRC prices m-o-m for May 2023 sales due to "subdued" domestic demand.

2. Global longs market remains less supported: The anticipated pick-up in the Chinese market after New Year holiday did not materialise, and global political tensions are not helping to motivate investors, with higher interest rates doing the rest. Despite some positives in the global market including energy prices and shipping costs coming down, the current status is fluctuating and unstable in general.

3. Raw material remains under pressure, Kanto scrap tender prices drop to 3-month low: Japan's bellwether Kanto Tetsugen scrap export tender concluded on 11 April 2023. A total of 15,000 t of scrap was awarded, with the average price at around JPY 50,556/t ($377/t) FAS for H2 scrap. Bid prices declined significantly by JPY 4,882/t ($36/t) m-o-m compared to bids of JPY 55,438/t ($414/t) in March.

Bids dropped to a three-month low after successive hikes over last three months and have reached their highest level in nine months since June 2022.