Firm Machine Structural Carbon Steel Price in Tokyo

Market price of carbon steel for machine structural use is firm at 112,000 yen per tonne around Tokyo after the inventory adjustment. The price is 139,000 yen for chrome and molybdenum alloyed products. The price is likely to keep firm with strong demand. The demand is firm for construction and industrial machinery and automobile. The demand is expected to keep firm when Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association revised the order receipt outlook upward by 100 billion yen for the year and Toyota Motor increases the output becoming world top automaker. The automobile demand is firm due to higher output of knockdown sets for export despite of the slow domestic automobile sales. Japanese automakers try to improve the domestic sales through launching new models aggressively. The structural carbon steel demand is also recovering for distributors’ market. The supply balance is getting to normal after inventory adjustment and better sentiment by users with expectation for higher price.