Nippon Steel holds H-beam prices but cuts orders accepted

"There is no sense of excess in inventory, but the inventory rate has deteriorated, and we are particularly concerned about the decrease in (outbound) shipments," the company said in a statement. Pointing out that this marked the first time it had reduced order volumes since September and October 2024 contracts, Nippon Steel said it intends to "continue efforts to optimize supply and demand in order to raise sales prices."

Nippon Steel has now rolled over its prices for four consecutive months, the last change being when it added Yen 3,000/tonne ($19/t) to prices for September sales last year, its first increase in 20 months, as Mysteel Global reported.  

The integrated giant never reveals its prices but on Monday of this week, rival sections maker Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan's largest independent mini-mill, had announced that it was keeping all domestic list prices unchanged for February, meaning that its price for large 100x100 mm H-beams remains at Yen 103,000/t, as reported.

Japanese industry daily, Tekko Shimbun, reports that deals for SS400 grade 5.5/8 x 200x100mm H-beams in Tokyo are presently being negotiated at Yen 115,000-116,000/t and at Yen 118,000-120,000/t in Osaka, unchanged since last summer.

Nippon Steel's concerns about inventories refer to H-beam stocks held by its Tokiwakai grouping of domestic H-beam traders and dealers nationwide which by end-December had totalled 198,400 tonnes, higher by 7,900 tonnes or 4% from end-November and marked the second consecutive monthly increase. The stocks were also significantly higher than the recent low reached in October of 188,600 tonnes, Tokiwakai data show.

More specifically, while the inbound volume of beams in December rose by nearly 6% from November to 70,000 tonnes – the first time these had topped 70,000 tonnes since March 2024 – outbound shipments from the members' yards decreased by 3.4% to 62,100 tonnes. Moreover, the daily shipment volume of beams leaving the yards averaged 3,100 tonnes/day, which was lower by 500 t/d from November.

Beam sales at year's end typically fall as building contractors prepare to enjoy their New Year holidays but Nippon Steel is concerned that the slowdown in volumes delivered to buyers could linger into January-February. Consequently, it decided to cut the orders it accepts and allow retail stocks time to fall so as to "maintain an appropriate supply-demand balance," it said.

The company cited construction start statistics from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism which showed that equivalent steel weight in H-beam demand in November was 223,000 tonnes, lower by a huge 25% from October. This put the cumulative total between April and November – the first eight months of Japan's fiscal year – at 3.46 million tonnes, a very low level, Nippon Steel observed.

Preliminary data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation put H-beam orders received by its members during April-November 2025 at 1.69 million tonnes, lower by 7.9% from the same period in 2024.

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

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com

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