Toyota seeks 30% cut in steel sheet prices

Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. announced that it will ask steelmakers to lower the price of steel sheet in 2010 by about 30%, citing weaker demand due to the global slump in automobile sales and expectations that raw material prices will decline further. The odds are that steel sheet prices will drop for the first time in seven years. Automakers and steel producers customarily negotiate prices once a year, with the price that Toyota and Nippon Steel Corp. agree on serving as an industry benchmark. Automotive steel sheet currently goes for slightly more than ¥100,000 (US$1,111) per metric ton. Toyota, which buys some ¥1 trillion (US$11 billion) worth of steel annually, is one of the largest customers of steelmakers. (January 5, 2009)