Weak Stainless Plate Price in Tokyo

Stainless steel plate market price keeps weak tone at 460,000 yen per tonne for SUS304 hot rolled coil cut plate with 3-6 millimeters thick and 610,000 yen for plate mill products with 7-14 mm thick around Tokyo. The demand for dealers and specific users is slower.

A dealer source said dealers’ shipping is low when nickel price is decreasing and users hold back the investment. Dealers’ inventory became higher level when the demand for plan or chemical tanker got worse. Japanese stainless plate inventory increased to around 40,000 tonnes in September, according to Japan Stainless Plate Shearing Industrial Association.

Japanese stainless plate makers keep the output with the demand, but dealers7 inventory doesn’t decrease. Shearing processors’ cut plate selling volume is low level. Nickel price maintains at over US$ 5 per pound.