SUS304 Stainless Steel Scrap Price Increasing in Japan

The market price of SUS304 stainless steel scrap, which contains chrome at 18% and nickel at 8%, has increased for 2 consecutive months in Japan. Scrap generation has decreased and the supply became tight. Some dealers are raising the selling price by 30,000-40,000 yen per tonne within October in advance. Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation (NSSC), Japanese largest stainless steel maker, raised its purchasing price for stainless steel scrap by 30,000 yen per tonne effective in November.NSSC raised the purchasing price for 2 months in a row. Other stainless steel makers including Nisshin Steel and Nippon Metal Industry also raised their purchasing prices. The makers seem to hold stainless steel scrap inventory at high level. However, the current scrap generation is decreasing from demolition works and stainless steel manufacturers. Scrap supply is tightening.On the other hand, some dealers are closing export contracts with Chinese users. Exporter source said Japanese stainless steel scrap price is cheaper than Chinese domestic price. Japanese domestic price would be pulled up by overseas higher price this month. Nickel price at London Metal Exchange has settled down at around US$ 30,000-35,000 per tonne since mid September. The stable nickel price also supported Japanese stainless steel scrap market.SUS304 stainless steel scrap price declined by about 260,000 yen per tonne in Japan in mid July compared with the peak due to the drop down of LME nickel price. In October NSSC and other stainless steel makers announced the hike for their scrap purchasing prices for the first time in 6 months.