Japan 5 Brass Rod Makers Raise Rolling Charge by 10 yen/kg

Japanese brass makers’ cooperative union, members of which are 5 brass rod makers, Ohki Brass & Copper, Kyoto Brass, Gonda Metal Industry, Nitto Metal Industry and Hitachi Alloy, announced on Friday the makers raise their rolling charges for brass bar by 10 yen per kilogram effective on the day. The makers announced the hike for the first time since April 2006. They are suffering from the expansion of production waste costs due to the surging copper price and other cost increases including distribution and sub materials. The makers also announced they consider the revision of the brass rod price system in order to cover the production waste costs as well as the material costs.The price of brass turning scrap, the main material for brass bar, has surged up since April 2006. The monthly averaged price in August was 680 yen per kg at Nippon Shindo’s purchase price, the indicator of Japanese domestic price for brass turning scrap. The production waste cost of brass bar, which accounts for 5% of the total material costs, became to 34 yen per kg in August, increasing by 22 yen from one and a half year ago.The 5 makers consider the revision of the rolling charge system to add 5% production waste cost on the material price.