Steel Sheet Price Keeps Flat in Tokyo

Steel sheet price keeps flat in Tokyo. The market price is 66,000-69,000 yen per tonne for hot-rolled steel sheet, 75,000-77,000 yen per tonne for pickled steel sheet and 80,000-82,000 yen per tonne for cold-rolled steel sheet.Some dealers seem to have supplied stocks of pickled steel sheet and medium plate speculatively when offshore makers announced the price hike. However, steel sheet trading is inactive in the market impacted by low demand for appliances and output reduction by Nissan Motor. In addition wholesalers’ market is shrinking under the trend of purchase integration by large contract users.Coil centers show higher reselling prices. But the price hike cannot be achieved with low demand. Trading house source said that cold-rolled steel coil price is currently higher than processed sheet.Japanese integrated steel makers indicate they would carry out another price hike in autumn. Anticipation is spreading for higher prices in the market. On the other hand, there are few positive factors for the price among dealers’ sites. The market price is likely to keep flat with potential increase for a while.