Toyota to call for steel price cut

Toyota Motor Corp plans to ask Nippon Steel Corp and other steelmakers for a price cut of about 30 percent in light of slower steel and vehicle demand, the Nikkei business daily reported yesterday.

The global financial crisis has hammered demand for cars and the raw materials used to build them, and analysts have said a big reduction when steel price negotiations begin early next year was widely expected.

But JPMorgan auto analyst Takaki Nakanishi said the brokerage was currently assuming a decline of 10,000 yen ($110.5) per ton, against a cut of 30,000-35,000 yen ($331-386) reported in the Nikkei, leaving room for far bigger cost improvements next year.