Japan Buyers Eye Higher H-Beam Import

South Korean steel makers offer around CIF US$ 820 per tonne to Japanese buyers, which recovered the level before the major earthquake, according to South Korean makers and Japanese trading companies. The makers accept orders with attention for rebuilding from the damage of the quake when Japanese buyers increase the interest in the import steel as the rebuilding materials. The cheaper import could increase when Japanese steel makers offer much higher price to cover higher raw materials cost.

Asian beam market is stable recently after the price increased just after Chinese New Year in early February. The demand is still strong in Southeast Asia but the buyers’ appetite is thin due to lower ferrous scrap price and unstable situation in Middle East.

Some of Japanese dealers sounded potential more than 5,000 tonnes of shapes import while the transactions failed. Japanese dealers increase the interest in cheaper import for long products. A trading firm source said with around 15,000 yen per tonne lower price than Japanese products, the import could be reasonable. The import volume depends on the price gap between import and domestic products.

Japanese H-beam import was around 5,725 tonnes in February, according to Ministry of Finance. The averaged import price was around CIF 57,000 yen per tonne, which was around 500 yen higher than January average.