Flat Sheet Steel Price in Tokyo

Sheet steel market price is flat at 68,000-69,000 yen per tonne for hot rolled sheet, at 74,000-76,000 yen for pickling steel and at 80,000-82,000 yen for cold rolled sheet around Tokyo. The price is likely to keep the level when integrated steel makers could increase the selling price. The dealers’ shipment keeps slow. The demand shows sign to improve for building applications but the shipment is slow totally. It is contrasted with demand for manufacturers when makers keep high level shipment for contract users. The national sheet steel inventory is more than normal level of 4 million tonnes for hot, cold and coated sheet and tends to increase. The inventory increases for some coil centers due to very slow shipment. Some transaction is getting lower. However, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing keeps the selling price and integrated steel makers, which hiked the price for processors, apparently consider price hike for distributors. The dealers cannot reduce the reselling price when import is also less attractive after the price hike.