Japanese Steel Wire Processors Appeal Price Hike by 15,000-20,000 Yen/t

Japanese steel wire product makers started not-easy negotiations to raise the selling price. Domestic steel makers have announced the price hike of steel wire rod and steel bar effective in and after April. Steel wire rod and bar processors are offering the price hike of the processed products by 15,000-20,000 yen per tonne to reflect high cost price.

Japanese integrated steel makers and electric furnace steel makers have announced the price hike of steel wire rod by 15,000 yen per tonne or more effective in April. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japanese largest electric furnace steel maker which revises the selling price every month, decided to raise the price by total 13,000 yen for February-April contracts.

In Osaka, Toami, Japanese largest supplier of welded steel wire mesh, raises the selling price in March and April. Other carbon steel wire product makers also plan to raise the selling price by 15,000-20,000 yen per tonne or more in April.

Major steel wire processors around Tokyo, Nagoya and Hokkaido have announced the price hike as well. Tokyo Rope MFG, the major supplier of steel wire rope, will raise the selling price by 5% or more for May shipment. Shinko Wire raises the selling price of steel wire rope, prestrest concrete steel wire and steel wire for springs.

Steel wire product makers cannot cover the yield loss of several percentage points even if they could reflect the material cost upsurge fully on the selling price. The price hike would contribute to the processors’ profit improvement but wouldn’t lead to the profit expansion.

Steel wire product users are unwilling to approve the hike for some items, the supply and demand balance of those which are not tight. This is the first price hike by steel wire product makers since early 2008.