Higher Structural Steel Bar Price in Tokyo

Market price of carbon steel bar for machine structural use is firm at around 110,000-115,000 yen per tonne around Tokyo while chrome-molybdenum alloy bar is 139,000 yen. The price is likely to increase more with wide hike pressure by supply side. The makers announced the hike by 15,000-20,000 yen per tonne to cover higher cost for raw materials. The makers, which increased the price a year earlier, try to improve the profitability under the tight supply. The dealers try to increase the offer for April shipment and the market expects the higher price. The demand is firm for contract users including automobile and construction and industrial machinery. The makers try to ship more for the contract users by reducing the shipment for distributors. However, the supply is tight and the makers arrange and postpone the delivery schedule for some the users. The demand in distributors’ market is slow but started to recover from January. The distributors have some stock out sizes with the low level inventory, which also supports the higher price.