Posted on 26 Mar 2010
Nippon Steel Corp has decided to raise the April contract price for H-beams by a record high of just over 20 percent on the month, or 15,000 yen ($161.7), to around 80,000 yen a ton, the Nikkei business daily said.
Basic Materials
Coming on the heels of the 5,000 yen price increase for February contracts and the 3,000 yen hike for March, the new price translates to a 23,000 yen a ton, or nearly 40 percent jump from the January contract, the paper said.
The increase follows a 55 percent rise in the price of some coal that Japanese steelmakers buy in the April-June quarter.
Prices of other raw materials have also been climbing, with Brazilian miner Vale SA reportedly demanding a nearly 90 percent hike in iron ore prices it said.
H-beams are mainly used as steel frames in buildings and factories.
Major blast-furnace steelmaker JFE Steel Corp is also expected to raise its H-beam prices, while electric-furnace steelmaker Tokyo Steel Mfg Co has lifted its H-beam price by a total of 11,000 yen a ton for February-April contracts, the Nikkei said. ($1=92.73 Yen)
