Japan mills ponder Tokyo Steel's product price cuts for April

The decision of Japan's largest independent mini-mill, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, to slash its list prices on a range of steel products for April sales is still being digested by its domestic competitors. However, one rival already announced a hefty price increase on Tuesday, clearly determined not to let Tokyo Steel's cuts take hold.

In a surprise move on Monday, and one that underscored the seriousness of the domestic steel-market's woes, Tokyo Steel announced that it was reducing prices on its pickled coils by Yen 5,000/tonne ($35/t) and that on rebars and on several other flat-rolled items by Yen 3,000/t. These were the