Nippon Steel Wins US$ 300-400/t Export Hike for GO Electrical Steel

Nippon Steel won US$ 300-400 per tonne of export price hike of grain oriented electrical steel for April-September shipment from European and US major heavy electric machinery makers compared with January-March level. The firm got the higher price under tight supply in high grade products mainly for high voltage direct current power distribution projects in Asia. The firm secures more orders than the capacity in and after July. The firm tries to increase the price level under ongoing tight supply with strong demand for transformer in infrastructure projects in emerging countries.

The supply of grain oriented electrical steel gets tight in the year due to strong demand for transformer in China and emerging countries. The demand for high grade products is strong when procurement started for major projects in Southeast Asia. Nippon Steel already won more than US$ 300 per tonne of spot price hike for April-June and around US$ 200 for July-September spot price.

The firm offered around US$ 500 per tonne of price hike for contract users in Europe and USA for April-September from January-March level to cover higher raw materials cost. The buyers resisted to the wide hike but they finally accepted certain hike to secure the high grade material stably.