Dealers to Increase Coated Steel Offer to 100,000 yen/t in Tokyo

Some steel sheet dealers increase offer price of coated steel to 100,000 yen per tonne around Tokyo on Friday when integrated steel makers increase the selling price by 10,000 yen per tonne for distributors in July. The dealers aim to pass 15,000 yen of the makers’ hike for April-June on their reselling price.

The market price is 93,000-94,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled based electrogalvanized steel and hot rolled based hot dip galvanized steel. The price increased by 10,000-15,000 yen before Japanese a week long holiday in early May after the integrated steels announced the price hike. The price increased partly due to inventory building purchase by the buyers with expectation for higher price.

However, the dealers’ shipment decreased after the holiday when the buyers built inventory. A dealer said the coated steel shipment decreased by around 20% in May from April due to slow construction demand. The market price peaks recently.

The dealers cannot get higher price for transaction with final users when the makers are still negotiating for contract price with major users. With additional price hike by the makers for distributors, the dealers try to speed up the reselling price increase to more than 100,000 yen per tonne for coated steel. A dealer said the dealers lose money at current price level even before the additional price hike for July.