Japan's steel market shrugs at Tokyo Steel's list price hike for November

Japanese steel distributors and processors say Monday's announcement from leading mini-mill Tokyo Steel Manufacturing of its Yen 3,000/tonne ($19/t) across-the-board rise for product list prices for November sales was as expected. One described the rise as realistic, but the universal concern remains whether the increases can be passed along to steel end users.

The increase for long steel products such as rebars and H-beams was Tokyo Steel's first for this category in four months, while the rise for coils, sheets and plates was its second in two months, the EAF maker having raised prices of all its flat-rolled items by Yen 2,000-3,000/t