Tokyo Steel raises all product prices $12.5-18.8/t for July

"The integrated mills' recent increases have totaled about Yen 15,000/t, so Tokyo Steel's hikes have reached a similar level," a Tokyo-based market watcher observed.

The mini-mill's increases, announced on Monday, are its first in two months and will see prices of most long products such as rebars and H-beams raised by Yen 3,000/t and those of all others including hot-rolled coils and pickled coils lifted by Yen 2,000/t.

As a result, Tokyo Steel's price for 8mm heavy plates rises by Yen 3,000/t to reach Yen 109,000/t, that for 1.6 mm pickled sheets is higher by Yen 2,000/t at Yen 117,000/t, and that for 1.7 mm hot-rolled coils is also Yen 2,000/t higher at Yen 100,000/t, according to the company's price list.

"Due to the prolonged situation in the Middle East, prices of energy and various raw materials continue to rise, and manufacturing costs remain on the rise," the company said in a statement.

Meeting Japanese media later, Tokyo Steel deputy general manager of sales, Gaku Ito, pointed out that ferrous scrap prices have remained high and fuel costs, including electricity, continue to increase. "We believe the cost increases are not so much temporary as structural," Ito observed. These cannot be absorbed by manufacturers alone and must be reflected in prices not only for steel products but also in the market, the company argues.

Tokyo Steel had raised prices by Yen 5,000-7,000/t for April contracts and Yen 3,000-5,000/t for May, as reported, so the latest rise of Yen 2,000-3,000/t for July brings its total close to what the blast furnace mills have added during the same period.

Nippon Steel, for example, on May 26 announced that it was adding Yen 5,000/t to prices for a range of flat products including cold-rolled coils and coated sheets for June contracts, July delivery. Following its Yen 10,000/t increase for April contracts (May shipments), the company's total price increase for the current fiscal year starting April 1 is Yen 15,000/t.

But whether Tokyo Steel's rises for July add to the momentum of the domestic price push remains to be seen. "The increase was expected but the range was smaller than many had thought," the Tokyo source remarked. "Rises of Yen 2,000-3,000 may be not enough to push market prices up."

Tokyo Steel's July 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