NSSC to Reduce Ni Stainless Plate, Cold Sheet by 35,000 yen/t

Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel (NSSC) announced on Monday the firm decreases the selling price of nickel series stainless steel plate and cold rolled sheet for domestic dealers by 35,000 yen per tonne effective for October orders compared with September, when averaged nickel price decreased in August-September compared with July-August. The firm reduces the selling price for 4 months in a row.The cold sheet price became to 500,000 yen per tonne, down by 250,000 yen from the recent peak, while the price is 510,000 yen for products with more than 2 millimeters thick. As for November orders, the firm is expected to raise the price by about 20,000 yen due to the upsurge of nickel price. The chrome series price is flat at 245,000 yen.Averaged nickel price decreased to US$ 12.97 per pound in August-September, down by US$ 0.88 from July-August. Monthly averaged nickel price bottomed out to US$ 13.4 in September. In October, the averaged price is increasing to US$ 13.88.NSSC said the demand for the chrome series products is steady for the specific users such as automakers or electronic appliance makers and the shipment for distributors keeps stable. The firm raised the selling price by 20,000 yen per tonne for May orders, which has been raised by total 80,000 yen this year.The firm expects the demand for stainless steel plate increases by about 30% in October-December compared with July-September due to the demand recovery for exports or vacuum chambers. The firm reduces order acceptance from market dealers by 20-30% in October-December to adjust supply and demand. The firm had reduced the order acceptance by about 40% by September.NSSC announced the firm ceases output reduction at stainless steel making processes in Hikari works this month. The firm had controlled the operation 20% lower than the full capacity since August due to the easy supply of stainless steel. The firm set back to normal operation with concerns that iron source balance would be maintained by a scheduled refinement of steel making process in May 2008 or that stainless steel inventory decreased in the market.