Sheet Steel Price Hits Record in Tokyo

Sheet market price hits record around Tokyo. The price reached 90,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled flat steel, to 92,000 yen for pickling steel and 96,000 yen for cold rolled flat steel. The dealers try to increase the reselling price after integrated steel makers announced 20,000 yen per tonne hike for April shipment. The market shows sign of uncertainty when the buyers built certain inventory before the hike and the import is increasing. The domestic demand is peaked for appliances while the automobile demand keeps strong. The building demand is recovering gradually. The integrated steel makers reduce the shipment for distributors by around 30% for April compared with January-March to ship more sheet steel for contract users and export. Offshore makers in South Korea and China are willing to increase the export to Japan under higher yen rate. The import price is around 90,000 yen per tonne for hot coil and around 100,000 yen for cold coil for April-May shipment, which is still higher than domestic market. However, with limited supply from domestic makers, the dealers try to increase the import. Japanese integrated steel makers could increase the sheet steel price additionally depending on coking coal price negotiation. The sheet steel dealers try to increase the reselling price while the inventory building demand is fading and import increases.