Strong Sheet Steel Price in Tokyo

Sheet steel market price is firm at 66,000-68,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled flat steel, at 74,000-76,000 yen for pickling steel and 80,000-82,000 yen for cold rolled sheet around Tokyo. The price is likely to keep firm under tight supply. The demand keeps high level for automobile while the demand is firm for industrial machinery. Coil centers are keeping high operation. Because the demand for construction is also recovering, the supply is tighter mainly for hot rolled sheet. Market inventory of hot, cold and coated sheet keeps less than 4 million tonnes despite of increasing to 3.89 million tonnes at the end of December. The supply is tight when distributors have some stock out sizes. On the other hand, pickled steel sheet inventory is surplus. The supply and demand conditions differ by each item. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, a major supplier of hot rolled flat steel for distributors’ market, increased the selling price of hot rolled steel sheet and cut sheet by 3,000 yen per tonne for February contracts. The large dealers and distributors try to increase the reselling price to cover the higher cost price.