Japan Stainless Dealers Try to Hike Cold Sheet by 15,000 Yen/t

Japanese stainless steel dealers are trying to raise the reselling price of nickel series cold rolled stainless sheet by 10,000-15,000 yen per tonne to reflect the makers’ price hike. Some dealers already succeeded in the hike within February. The market price is expected to surge due to the dealers’ efforts to improve their profitability. Stainless coil centers’ profits slightly improved in February compared with January and seem upward in March.

Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel raised the selling price of nickel series products by 5,000 yen per tonne for March contracts. The firm announced the price hike for 2 months in a row while seems to launch an additional hike for April contracts to follow high nickel price.

A major dealer source said dealer should raise the reselling price by total 20,000 yen step by step to reflect the makers’ price hike. However, the users are unwilling to approve the hike and the demand for the products maintains weak.