Stainless Steel Sheet Price to Recover in Japan

The market price of stainless steel sheet is recovering in Japan. The price is expected to rise further, especially for stainless steel sheet of nickel series, when the nickel price at London Metal Exchange (LME) rebounded in mid December and maintains the increase.Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation (NSSC) raised the selling price of nickel series cold-rolled stainless steel sheet for 3 straight months since January, which announces the price of nickel series cold-rolled stainless steel sheet and plate contracted between dealers. In March NSSC raised the price by 5,000 yen to 315,000 yen per tonne from February, reflecting the surge of the nickel price on both the alloy extra and the metal costs. Nippon Metal Industry and Nippon Yakin Kogyo also announced the hike of their selling prices by around 20,000 yen per tonne. Nisshin Steel revises its selling price every 3 months and it left the price unchanged for shipment in April-June. However, the firm suggested the possibility to put the increase of the material costs on the price.Some dealer sources say that the shipment of nickel series stainless steel sheet is stagnant and is likely to become worse in April. However, the inventory of nickel series stainless steel sheet decreased to 68,000 tonnes thanks to the makers’ output reduction and dealers’ stock adjustment, according to Japan Stainless Steel Coil Center Association. Additionally the demand is active for large contract users. The market price is increasing to 300,000-315,000 yen per tonne.