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Japan's NSSC cuts July 300-series CRC, plate prices by $221/t

Nippon Steel Stainless Steel Corp (NSSC), Japan’s largest stainless producer, has decided to slash its 300-series cold-rolled coil (CRC) and plates by Yen 30,00...

Stainless Steel

BigMint Bureau

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11 Jul 2022, 15:38 IST

Japan's NSSC cuts July 300-series CRC, plate prices by $221/t

Nippon Steel Stainless Steel Corp (NSSC), Japan's largest stainless producer, has decided to slash its 300-series cold-rolled coil (CRC) and plates by Yen 30,000/tonne ($221/t) for sales to domestic distributors in July, to reflect the decline in nickel prices. This marked NSSC's first price cut for its 300-series since April 2020, according to the company.

NSSC's actual price cut was finalized according to its alloy surcharge formula, and the decline in nickel prices over the past two months had resulted the company to cut its 300-series prices. But the ferrochrome price during the same period hadn't changed, so NSSC's list prices for 400-series CRC remained flat, a company official explained.

The average nickel price over May-June was at $12.2/lb, down $1.69/lb from the average of April-May, while FeCr prices for NSSC during the same period stayed at $2.24/lb. Meanwhile, Japanese Yen against the U.S. dollar weakened over May-June to $132.37 from $128.4 on average.

NSSC has been lifting its stainless CRC and plate prices since June 2020, and with last month's hike, it has added a total of Yen 355,000/t for its prices of 300-series CRC and plates and those for 400-series CRC by Yen 130,000/t, as reported.

The company does not reveal its exact list prices. But as of July 7, the SUS304 2mm thick CR cut sheet was transacted in Tokyo at Yen 630,000/t, up Yen 70,000/t on month, and that for SUS304-7mm thick plate at Yen 740,000/t, up Yen 50,000/t on month. The price for the SUS430 2mm CR cut sheet was at Yen 380,000/t, Yen 20,000/t higher on month, sources shared.

A Tokyo-based stainless distributor was surprised at NSSC's decision.

"Nickel prices had softened from peak in March but remained at high levels. And overall production costs for stainless producers including power charges, fuel and distribution fees were higher. So we expected that NSSC would make adjustment in its base prices and keep the overall prices unchanged. But it just decided to reflect the decline in nickel prices," he said.

"And NSSC's latest price adjustment may slow down the rise in market prices," he warned.

He added that Japanese distributors have yet to fully shift the previous hikes by producers, so they must continue to lift their prices. "But we won't change our target of reaching Yen 700,000/t by the end of this summer. And we're afraid that customers will have to wait for our prices to reflect NSSC's latest cut, even though it isn't happening anytime soon," he emphasized.

Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com