Japan's 300-series stainless CR sheet prices to rise soon

By October 12, Japanese dealers' prices of 300-series stainless cold-rolled (CR) sheets have been kept flat since late August with customers stepping back from buying activities on anticipation of price drop, but they will return to the market over the hike by producers, market sources in Tokyo shared.

As of Wednesday morning, SUS304 2mm thick CR cut sheets were being transacted at Yen 680,000/tonne ($4,657/t), unchanged for over a month, but up by Yen 30,000/t from two months ago, sources confirmed. A Tokyo-based stainless distributor shared that most distributors had been targeting the prices to reach Yen 70,000/t