Stainless Steel Sheet Price Increases in Tokyo

The market price of stainless steel sheet is strong in Tokyo at 31,000-320,000 yen per tonne for base sized SUS304 and at around 200,000 yen for SUS430. Stainless steel sheet price is increasing in both Japanese and Asian market. The export price of nickel series stainless steel coil exceeded US$ 3,000 for the first time in 11 years with little steels inflow from Europe to China. Demand is strong in the market.Nickel price at London Metal exchange (LME) stays at above US$ 9.5 per pound. Japanese stainless steel makers announced price hike for their products in turn thanks to high nickel price which is the main material for stainless steels. Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation raised the selling price of nickel series stainless steel coil shipped for domestic dealers by 15,000 yen to 335,000 yen per tonne for May contracts. The firm announced price hike for 5 consecutive months.Stainless steel sheet inventory was 108,000 tonnes at Japanese coil centers in April and total inventory to shipment was 1.67 months, according to Japan Stainless Coil Center Industry Association. Demand is firm, though users might shift to other materials from stainless steel when the price increased too rapidly. Demand condition would depend on how far dealers pass higher purchasing costs on their selling prices.