Weak Ni Series Cold Stainless Steel Sheet Market in Japan

Market price of nickel series cold-rolled stainless steel sheet is gradually decreasing around Tokyo. The current price is around 360,000 yen per tonne for base sized SUS304, down by 30,000 yen from December. Distributors are trying to adjust their inventories when domestic stainless steel makers are reducing their outputs by wide ranges. However, distributors are suffered from stagnant shipment. The weak market condition is likely to maintain within fiscal 2008 ending March 2009.

A large distributor in Tokyo said their monthly revenue is expected to decrease in January from December despite of less business days of the previous month. Sales condition seems even severer for distributors specializing in stainless steel sheet.

Nickel price keeps around US$ 5 per pound at London Metal Exchange (LME) this month. However, a Japanese trader source said the price level seems temporary because LME nickel inventory is historically high at 78,000 tonnes and nickel demand is globally weakening.

Market price of Ni series cold stainless steel sheet also declined by 20,000-30,000 yen per tonne around Osaka within this month. The actual demand is stagnant and the users are minimizing the purchase volume with an expectation the market price could decline more. The market price is around 360,000-370,000 yen per tonne for base sized SUS304 and seems to continue lowering.

The market inventory is decreasing when local makers continue the output reductions. However, distributors’ shipment is still slower and the inventory to shipment ratio stays high. Some distributors are offering cheap reselling price to decrease the inventories. The market price is declining. Most distributors are suffered from losses due to lower market price and slower shipment volume.