Hot Rolled Flat Steel Price to Rebound in Tokyo

Electrogalvanized flat steel price keeps flat under the demand stagnancy around Tokyo while hot rolled flat steel price is likely to increase the tight supply. Domestic steel sheet inventory held by makers, dealers, and Japan Coil Center Industry Association was 3.8 million tonnes at the end of April, which decreased to less than 4 million tonnes for the first time in about 2 years. The coil centers’ amount of processing increased by 2.6% to 0.8 million tonnes in April from March, which showed month-to-month increase for 2 months in a row. The demand, which moved at lower level since fall 2008, shows sign to bottom out.

Some dealers have some stock out sizes for hot rolled flat steel inventory. The dealers receive inquiries for the restocking from the local wholesalers. The coil centers and dealers have hiked the price by 3,000-5,000 yen per tonne from lower price in March, when they tried to secure liquidity. Current hot rolled flat steel price is around 60,000 yen per tonne.

On the other hand, electrogalvanized flat steel demand remains low. The market price is 85,000-88,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled based and 95,000-98,000 yen per tonne for cold rolled based products. The transaction price by some dealers and coil centers is lower price due to the demand stagnancy.