Firm Stainless Sheet Price in Tokyo

Stainless sheet steel market price is firm at 650,000 yen per tonne for SUS304 base size and at 240,000 yen for SUS430 around Tokyo. The nickel series stainless price is expected to reach 700,000 yen when nickel ingot price keeps high level at London Metal Exchange along with tight stainless sheet supply in Japan. The demand is slower seasonally for construction and kitchen applications in April-June than before. However, the demand is still firm for information technology industry. The coil centers’ sales were as high as 60,197 tonnes in April, according to the association. The domestic supply is tight despite of full capacity operations by the makers under strong demand for contract users. The makers halve the order acceptance from distributors to reduce the inventory, which was 1.88 months of the shipment in April compared with normal level of 1.8 months. Stainless sheet makers in South Korea could increase the export to Japan under less demand after Asian buyers built the inventory by March. The import could impact on Japanese market.