Weak Column Price in Tokyo

Market price of large diameter square steel pipe or column is weak at around 105,000-110,000 yen per tonne including cut and groove processing charge at the dealers’ site around Tokyo. The price is still decreasing when the makers reduce the direct transaction price for users. The market price is likely to decrease more when some dealers already sell at less than 100,000 yen.

The dealers’ inventory at end of July was in line with June level. The dealers try to minimize the purchase volume from the makers while the shipment is very slow due to very slow construction activity. The higher price would reduce the demand when the price is more than 40,000 yen per tonne higher than H-beam price.

The dealers try to get more order at lower price. The makers, which suffer from higher cost under major production cut, consider price hike. However, the hike couldn’t realize for a while under very slow demand.