Weak Price of Cold Rolled Nickel Stainless Sheet in Osaka

Market price of cold rolled nickel series stainless steel sheet is weak around Osaka. The price is 270,000-280,000 yen per tonne for SUS 304 grade with 2 millimeters thick. The price would decrease due to weak price of nickel and stainless steel scrap along with stainless oversupply.

The demand is steady for gas and oil industry. However, the users’ purchase volume is small in the distributors’ market. The import increases when the import reached 10,000 tonnes in March, which was the highest level in around 5 years. The import was less than 10,000 tonnes per month since April but the import represents around 30% of the domestic demand.

Japanese largest stainless steel maker, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel (NSSC) reduces selling price of nickel series cold rolled sheet and plate by total 15,000 yen per tonne for the dealers for May and June order. However, most of the dealers cannot fully pass the higher cost price in January and February. The dealers are reluctant to reduce reselling price to secure certain margin.