Tokyo Steel holds product prices for Jan sales and waits

"We will assess the progress of supply-demand improvement for each steel variety and the situation such as domestic and international market conditions," Tokyo Steel director and head of sales, Yuji Komatsuzaki, said on Monday. "We keep the selling price unchanged for all varieties in order to ensure market penetration of the price increases of the four types of steel that were implemented for December contracts," he told Japanese media. This marks the first time in two months that the mini-mill is making no adjustment to any of its prices.

Last month for current month sales, Tokyo Steel had (belatedly) joined other steelmakers determined to halt the months-long general slide in prices and raised those for all its I-beam, channel and checker H-beam items and some of its light- and medium-sized H-beams by Yen 3,000/tonne ($19.5/t), as Mysteel Global reported.

In a market commentary published the same day as Tokyo Steel announced its price policy, industry daily Tekko Shimbun was frank. "The market for H-shaped steel is expected to rise (and) the selling activity of distribution companies has also intensified," it noted. "But rounding up the prices will take time because the demand for steel frames is sluggish," it observed.

In its policy statement, Tokyo Steel tried to sound optimistic. "In the domestic market, the movement of steel materials is lacking in excitement due to the winter season for all building material varieties, and as well as delays in the start of construction work and process delays in some regions," the statement read.

"However, from next year, steel frame construction will begin in earnest, even in large-scale redevelopment projects in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In addition, the number of small and medium-sized properties, which had been sluggish, is expected to pick up from next spring onwards, so while market inventories continue to remain low, we are waiting for an immediate rise in market conditions due to the pass-on of price increases," it added.

Himeji-based sections maker, Yamato Steel, in western Japan, seemed to agree that now is not the time to push for higher long-product prices. On Tuesday, the company said it would be keeping its sales prices for January unchanged as well, after having raised these also by Yen 3,000/t from October. "While manufacturers are in sync (regarding higher prices) and distributors are also moving to raise their prices, we want to determine market trends such as the degree of penetration of (previous) price increases," the mill said in a statement.

It's possible that steel buyers may be persuaded to pay more for their long products from January, but the chances are not good. For one thing, the number of business days available in the month for tough negotiations is constricted by public holidays, Mysteel Global notes. Japanese companies will generally begin slowing their business activities for Oshogatsu from around December 29 and most will not begin serious work until after Japan's Coming-of-Age Day, which next year will fall on January 12.

Meanwhile, the delays in building projects that mills say are impacting their steel sales are real. Last Friday, for example, private railway operator Nagoya Railroad Co announced the indefinite postponement of ambitious plans to redevelop areas around Nagoya station and Meitetsu Nagoya station in central Japan's Chubu region that would see six existing buildings replaced and two mixed-use skyscrapers added in a 520,000-square-meter masterplan.  

"This decision follows the withdrawal of a bid on November 26 by an applicant for the demolition and new construction work, citing difficulties in forming a construction team due to labour shortages," the company is quoted as saying. "This makes it impossible to meet the original schedule of demolition to start from next April and new construction to begin from April 2027," it argued.

The Tekko Shimbun ruefully noted that the project was to be the first large-scale project in a long time in the Chubu region and was likely to prove a catalyst for steel demand. "The steel industry is greatly disappointed by the two postponements of the plan," it observed.

Tokyo Steel's January 2026 finished steel list prices (incomplete)

Source: Tokyo Steel Manufacturing

Written by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com