Daily Steel News - 16 Apr 09

Iran billet market revives, prices advance
The Iranian billet market has lifted prices about $20/tonne in two weeks. A private re-roller added: "CIS billet is quoted at $385-390/t cif Iranian northern port... We have some offers from Russian producers quoting their material at $350-360/t fob." The Iran Mercantile Exchange has also been active in billet trading this week. Severstal-origin square billet traded at IRR
3,930,000/t ($398/t), and another Russian producer Mechel's billet sold for IRR 3,810,000/t ($386/t) cif northern port of Iran.

Tokyo Steel chasing monthly, not yearly, prices
Tokyo Steel Manufacturing is requesting its newly won customers in the electronics and auto sectors to agree to monthly rather than annual price contracts for its flat-rolled products. This will help it avoid the problems of rapidly changing scrap prices, company president Toshikazu
Nishimoto has told industry daily, the Tekko Shimbun. But major Japanese customers prefer long-term steel price contractts, and the integrated mills have traditionally agreed because until recently their raw materials, wages and most other costs were determined annually. "But our scrap purchase prices change very often, so it is difficult for us to have an annual contract," a Tokyo Steel spokesman says, noting that H2 scrap prices rose to ¥70,000/t ($710/t) last summer before plunging below ¥20,000/t. It is too dangerous for mini mills to have contracts
with customers on a yearly basis, he said.