Strong Steel Sheet Price in Tokyo

The market price is strong at 66,000-68,000 yen per tonne for hot-rolled steel sheet, at 74,000-77,000 yen per tonne for pickled steel sheet and at 80,000-82,000yen per tonne for cold-rolled steel sheet in Tokyo.Steel sheet supply is tightening as total when Japanese inventory of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheet steel decreased to about 3.8 million tonnes at the end of November held by makers, distributors and processors for domestic shipment. Rolling lead time becomes longer at makers mainly for automobile with some delivery delay.The dealers show strong selling stances thanks to the improvement in the supply and demand balance. Large dealers and coil centers already raised their selling prices for middle thick steel sheet by 2,000 yen per tonne from November shipment and by 1,000-2,000 yen from December.The demand is recovering for construction materials. Many large dealer sources said the shipment is good after October. The supply is expected to keep tight when the steel sheet import remains low level. The market price started in strong tone from the beginning of 2007.