Japan's flat steel mart firms, thanks to Tokyo Steel

The Japanese market for carbon steel hot-rolled coils, coated sheets, heavy plates and other flat-rolled items is continuing to show signs of firming, helped along by Monday's announcement from leading mini-mill Tokyo Steel Manufacturing that it was raising prices of all its flat-rolled items 11 categories in all by Yen 2,000-3,000/tonne ($13-19.5/t) for domestic sales in October.

On the other hand, that for long products such as H-beams and rebars remains dull, with some market insiders saying the uptick in construction steel orders that usually occurs during Japan's autumn months of October-December might be delayed this year. In its October price statement, Tokyo Steel argued that the