Tokyo Steel halts exports on scrap price rises, yen

TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) - Tokyo Steel Manufacturing (5423.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday it had halted signing export contracts as higher prices for scrap metal and a rapid climb in the yen have made it difficult for exports to be profitable.

"We stopped signing new export contracts in February," said Nobuaki Nara, an official at Tokyo Steel, Japan's biggest maker of construction-use steel.

Nara said resumption of exports would depend on prices of raw materials and the yen.

"We don't plan to increase output unreasonably when it is not profitable," he said.

The price of scrap metal, a key raw material for some steelmakers, has hit record highs.

The American Metal Market's April scrap index has risen to $555 per ton, 25 percent higher than the previous peak of $443 per ton reached in November 2004. (Reporting by Edwina Gibbs; Editing by Hugh Lawson)