NSSC Lowers Ni Series Stainless Sheet and Plate by 5,000 Yen/t in December

Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation (NSSC) announced on Wednesday the firm decreased the selling price of cold rolled stainless sheet and plate by 5,000 yen per tonne for December contracts with domestic wholesalers. The revision reflected nickel price down in November.

As for the cold rolled stainless sheet price for dealers based on alloy rink system, NSSC decided to change the price as of contracts not as of shipment. NSSC shifts to announce only price revision range, not revealing the actual price. Thus December contract price keeps unchanged from November shipment price. The actual price for December contracts was not revealed.

Average nickel price at London Metal Exchange decreased by US$ 0.46 to US$ 8.11 per pound in November from October. Chrome price kept flat at 128 US cents per pound. Yen exchange rate kept almost flat at 77.6 yen per US dollar. Consequently NSSC lowered nickel series product prices by 5,000 yen along the alloy charge system.

NSSC explained domestic wholesalers are in wait-and-see mood and minimizing nickel series stainless sheet procurement just for immediate usage when raw material prices are decreasing. Inventory adjustment has slowed down while imported products have increased.

As for nickel series stainless plate, NSSC’s sales volume for domestic market decreased by 5% to 76,000 tonnes in October from September. Meanwhile, the demand seems recovering for vacuum chambers, smart phones and reconstructions in disaster areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The orders are also recovering related to petrochemical plant projects in Middle East and Asia.