[Ferro-Alloys.com] Reuters reported that Japan’s top electric-arc furnace steelmaker Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd said that it would keep steel product prices unchanged for a fourth straight month in February, as it awaited confirmation that a recovery in steel markets would continue both at home and abroad.

For February, prices for steel bars, including rebar, will remain at JPY 62,000 a tonne while H-shaped beams will also stay at 83,000 yen a tonne. Domestic demand is also solid, but labor shortage and limited processing capacities have delayed various construction projects, causing dull market activities. Steelmakers want to raise prices of products to reflect rising costs such as transportation and secondary materials, but we are keeping our product prices steady as we want to make sure markets have completely bottomed out.”

Tokyo Steel held prices steady for all of its steel products in January, including its main H-shaped beams. (REUTERS)

• [Editor:kangmingfei]