JFE Steel to Hike Export Price by US$ 200/t for Slab, Sheet, by US$ 150 for Plate

JFE Steel will increase the export price by US$ 200 per tonne for steel slab and sheet steel products and by US$ 150 for plate for April-June shipment, said the senior vice president Tsutomu Yajima at press conference on Tuesday. The firm targets more than FOB US$ 750 for hot rolled coil, around US$ 900 for cold rolled flat steel, US$ 1,000 for electrogalvanizing steel and US$ 750 for plate.

The firm eyes more than US$ 200 per tonne of hike for non-oriented electrical steel and black plate due to the tight supply. The firm also offers such hike for line pipe and seamless pipe. The firm offers lower price hike for plate steel when South Korean steel makers launch around 6 million tonnes of new plate making capacity.

The firm gets strong demand from offshore buyers under tight supply while Asian raw steel output capacity will increase by 50-60 million tonnes in 2010 when the raw steel output capacity will decrease by around 38 million tonnes mainly in China. The firm recognizes higher steel market price in Asia due to expectation for higher raw materials cost.