Decreasing Sheet Steel Price in Tokyo

Sheet steel market price keeps decreasing to 73,000-76,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled flat steel around Tokyo when the dealers and processors try to liquidate the inventory under slow demand. The market shows no sign to hit bottom when lower price expectation is accelerated after Tokyo Steel Manufacturing reduced the selling price.

The price level is 74,000-77,000 yen per tonne for pickling steel, 92,000-94,000 yen for cold rolled flat steel, 99,000-102,000 yen for hot based coated steel and 109,000-112,000 yen for cold based coated steel. Some transaction is less than 70,000 yen for hot rolled and pickling steel.

The dealers’ shipment is very slow due to low level activity in automobile, appliances, machinery and construction. The dealers try to reduce the inventory when the hot, cold and coated steel inventory hit record 4.7 million tonnes at end of December, which is much more than normal level of 3.7 million tonnes.