Weak Market of Ni Series Cold Stainless Steel Sheet, Tokyo

The market of nickel series cold-rolled stainless steel sheet maintains weak around Tokyo when the customers are reducing procurement with expectation that nickel price could continue declining. The sheet market price is around 480,000 yen per tonne, which became to below 500,000 yen for the first time in 17 months.Dealers’ inventory of nickel series cold-rolled stainless steel sheet was 60,898 tonnes at the end of July, according to Japan Stainless Steel Coil Center Association. The inventory decreased by 1.1% from a month ago and the inventory to shipment ratio was 2.05 months. The inventory continued decreasing for 2 months in a row thanks to the makers’ output reduction and dealers’ adjustment. However, the sales decreased by 1.4% month-to-month to 29,665 tonnes.A trading house source said the actual demand is declining and dealers seemed to minimize the procurement just as much as the immediate reselling. A source pointed out that dealers are suffered from inventory evaluation losses caused by rough fluctuation in nickel metal market while they are reducing procurement with expectation for nickel price down.Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation and Nisshin Steel, Japanese major stainless steel makers, decided not to accept order from market dealers in August. Makers’ output and order receipt reduction could contribute to the market recovery around October. The market seems to keep weak for a while, though many dealers expect the price would hit the bottom in September.