Strong Price of Stainless Steel Sheet in Tokyo

The market price of stainless steel sheet is strong for both nickel and chrome series in Tokyo. The price is around 340,000 yen per tonne for base sized SUS 304 and around 210,000 yen for base sized SUS 430.Stainless steel makers have raised their selling prices for nickel series products remarkably when nickel price at London Metal Exchange (LME) recently soared up. Japanese biggest stainless steel sheet maker, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation raised the selling price for 7 consecutive months since January 2006 along the surcharge price system and the price increased by total 75,000 yen per tonne. Nisshin Steel also announced the massive hike due to high raw materials costs.Dealers started price negotiations with the users, but cannot gain enough achievement yet to cover increasing prime costs due to the makers’ price hike. Some dealer sources are concerned they might suffer heavy losses in this fiscal term.LME nickel price was US$ 12.1 per pound on July 21. Monthly average exceeds US$ 12 this month at present. The nickel price could impact the makers’ selling price for dealers for next month. The supply is gradually tightening and the market price is expected to increase more.