Firm Sheet Steel Price in Tokyo

Sheet steel market price is firm at around 85,000-86,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled flat steel, at 87,000-88,000 yen for pickling steel and at 91,000-92,000 yen for cold rolled flat steel around Tokyo. The price is likely to increase more when the dealers try to pass higher cost price preparing for the makers’ wide hike. The makers try to pass higher cost for raw materials through the hike while they try to ship more for contract users including automakers and machinery makers by reducing the supply for dealers. The sheet supply for dealers market gets tighter especially for pickling steel and cold rolled flat steel. The demand for the distributors market is still slow despite of gradual recover for building market. The market price is pushed up by supply side cost pressure despite of the slow demand.