On August 4, Japanese automobile company Toyota agreed with domestic steelmaker Nippon Steel on a price rise for steel sheet of about 15 percent or JPY 13,000/mt (US $169/mt) for the April-September period of the current year.
The increase is in line with analysts' predictions of an increase of JPY 13,000-15,000/mt and is seen as sufficient to cover higher input costs when taking account of Nippon Steel's cost-cutting efforts.