H-beam Dealers Increases Reselling Prices in Tokyo

H-beam market price shows increasing mood after October 20 around Tokyo when Hanwa, Japanese major steel dealer, announced the firm would raise H-beam reselling price by 2,000 yen per tonne effective on October 20 and other dealers would follow the movement.H-beam arrival will increase at dealers’ sites this week and the shipment could hit the yearly peak in October-November, the demand season of H-beam. Dealers are facing a good timing for the price hike. Dealers aim to raise the market price by 2,000 yen to 77,000 yen per tonne.Nippon Steel raised the selling price by 2,000 yen per tonne from September contracts due to the surge of material costs. JFE Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industry also increased their selling price by 2,000 yen from October contracts. Some dealers tried to pass the increasing cost prices on the reselling prices this month. However, they failed the hike when the shipment was inactive.Inventory to shipment ratio of H-beam was 2.02 months in Tokyo at the end of September among members of Tokiwa-kai, which is a group of distributors dealing Nippon Steel’s products. The ratio decreased to near 2 months, while which kept the level at over 2 months since January 2006 around Tokyo. The shipment from dealers increased by 10.4% to 31,492 tonnes in September from August around Tokyo. In Tokyo 30,000 tonnes of shipment is the barometer of H-beam market condition. The shipment is recovering. Makers will continue cautious supply and the inventory is unlikely to increase from the present level.