Nippon Steel Corp has agreed with PT Latinusa on a price increase of US$50/ton by negotiations in the Japanese integrated steelmaker's TMBP exports to the Indonesian tinplate manufacturer for December shipments. Indications are that the two sides will hold negotiations anew in December on their TMBP deal for January shipments next year.
Latinusa held back on TMBP imports from Japan for November shipments as the company had taken a wait-and-see position in reaction to a global confusion of steel transaction prices on the whole. At the time, though, the company voiced its hopes to order Japanese TMBP for December shipments, given active demand for tinplate in Asia.
At present, there are offers to Indonesia of tinplate from Malaysia and TMBP from Taiwan at a lower price level than the norm of Japanese export prices for tinplate and TMBP, according to market sources. |
