Flat Colored Galvanizing Steel Price in Tokyo

Colored galvanizing steel price is flat at 184,000 yen per tonne for 10 tonnes coil and 205,000 yen for 2 tonnes coil for products with 0.35 millimeters thick around Tokyo. The price is likely to increase in July when the distributors’ shipment increases to meet inventory building demand by users and the makers increase the selling price. The users increase the order to distributors before makers’ hike. The supply balance improved after inventory adjustment. However, the actual demand without the inventory building is still slower and the demand is expected to decrease in January-June from same period of 2005. The makers increase the selling price by 10,000-20,000 yen per tonne for July shipment to cover higher raw materials cost. The response is mixed when some distributors can pass the higher cost price while others cannot pass the hike with resistance by users. The distributors are likely to have hard time when the makers seek another hike in autumn to cover higher cost of steel, aluminium and zinc. The distributors try to pass the cost price before the next hike.