It's reported that Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless (NSSC), the largest stainless producer in Japan announced to cut the domestic prices for austenitic and ferritic rods by ￥10,000/ton and ￥5,000/ton for September-November contracts in response to lower alloy charges.
NSSC stated that it decided to hike the prices in order to reflect the cost changes in the prices.
The company pointed out that the average nickel prices in the period during June 25th through September 25th dropped to US$7.73/lb. from US$7.75/lb. in the previous quarter. Also, the ferrochrome price fell to US$1.33/lb. from US$1.43/lb.
However, the Japanese yen appreciated to ￥79.7=US$1 from ￥81.2=US$1, making the imports become cheaper.
Meanwhile, NSSC cut the extra charges for alloy content for September-November contracts, making its prices for SUS316 and SUS310S bar reduce by ￥20,000/ton and ￥25,000/ton respectively