Firm Stainless Plate Price in Tokyo

Stainless steel plate market price is flat at 520,000-540,000 yen per tonne for SUS304 hot rolled coil cut grade and at 660,000 yen for plate mill products around Tokyo. The price is expected to increase when the makers increased the base selling price for April order. The worldwide plate supply is tight due to strong demand for plant. A major stainless maker said the firm cannot meet all of the orders when the demand is strong from contract users, especially from food industry including vacuum chamber, beer tank and milk products making equipment. The maker sees the shipment for distributors with normal inventory level increases recently.However, the distributors’ demand is slow for hot coil cut grade products while the plate mill products demand is firm. A dealer source said they have no choice but to pass higher cost price on the market. The stainless plate processors’ group reported the hot rolled flat stainless inventory decreased for 5 months in a row while the shipment reached 9,000 tonnes for the first time in 3 months.