The internationalmarket prices for raw materials have become stable recently on a downward trend. The crude oil price, which led the spike in prices of raw materials this year, took a downturn at the beginning of this month when OPEC members decided on an increase in their production, and the prevailing view is that the prices of steel which have continued to be on the rise over the past 2 years also have reached the peak. What is recently leading a decline in the prices for raw materials is crude oil price. The oil price for July delivery of the West Texan intermediate (WTI) closed the market June 14 at U.S.$37.59 per barrel, down 2.2%, or 86 cents from the previous trading day on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This represents an around-6% drop in forward WTI price after the OPEC agreement (on production of 2 million barrels per day starting in July) June 3. Especially, the downward trend of oil prices in the international market despite the continuing occurrence of terrors in the Middle East is interpreted to have come from the fact that jitters over supply and demand conditions in oil markets eased greatly. The prices for refined copper and gold also have hit a monthly low on a downward trend. Such a recent downward trend of raw materials prices is ascribed to a rush to sell them off from the concern that the prices had increased too high in the short term. hogeun@snmnews.com