Weak Ni Cold Rolled Stainless Steel Sheet in Tokyo

Market price of nickel series cold rolled stainless steel sheet is weak at around 290,000 yen per tonne for SUS 304 around Tokyo. Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation (NSSC) increased the base price for dealers for May order from April. The firm left the selling price when the firm reduced alloy charge but the dealers would try to increase reselling price to match higher base price.

The stainless steel sheet market price could decrease to meet weak raw material price. A major dealer tries to keep the selling price under base price hike by NSSC while the dealers’ inventory remains high level.

Lower price of imported material could impact on local market price when the import increased in March. One dealer source sees the import impacts on the dealer’s pricing when some users show intention of purchasing the imported material.

Nickel price at London Metal Exchange decreased to less than US$ 8 per pound in May. The dealers watch the price trend of raw material.