Strong Stainless Steel Plate Price in Tokyo

The market price is strong at 640,000-650,000 yen per tonne for SUS304 grade hot cut plate, at 740,000-750,000 yen per tonne for plate mill products, at 980,000-990,000 yen per tonne for SUS316 grade hot cut plate and at 1.008 million yen per tonne for plate mill products around Tokyo.Domestic dealers’ sales volume recently keeps high at more than 12,000 tonnes per month. Stainless steel plate makers such as Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel are in full operations. However, the supply remains much tight.There are international large projects such for chemical industrial equipment, liquid natural gas plant and desalination plant. Stainless steel plate export is also active from Japanese fabricators.The makers have succeeded in price hike when plate supply is especially tight among stainless steel products. Dealers also show strong selling stances. Dealer source said they target to raise the market price of SUS304 plate mill products to 800,000 yen per tonne. There seems material shift movement among some stainless steel sheet users. However, plate users continue using stainless steels. The supply will maintain tight for a while.