Hot Rolled, Pickling Steel Sheet Price Drops in Tokyo

Hot rolled steel sheet market price keeps decreasing in Tokyo. The price dropped by 1,000-2,000 yen per tonne in the month after the drop June. The distributors’ market experiences competition between dealers including processors while Japanese integrated steel makers try to meet the strong demand mainly for manufacturers. The pickling steel market price started to decrease to less than 70,000 yen per tonne for leveler processed products under the over supply. The leveler processed materials’ market price is 67,000-68,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled flat steel and 70,000-71,000 yen for pickling steel. The pickling steel price decreases toward hot rolled flat price though the price is around 5,000 yen higher than hot products usually. The distributors’ market demand for hot rolled flat steel keeps low level around Tokyo while some distributors report the demand starts to increase for building applications. The pickling steel demand, which is used mainly by manufacturers, is slow when Nissan Motor reduces the output under sales slump. The distributors’ pickling steel inventory increases. The supply is more than the demand in the distributors market when the materials for contract buyers shifts to distributors’ market due to the cheaper price and the distributors cannot reduce the order to integrated steel makers preparing for potential tight supply when the makers’ rolling schedule is getting tighter.