Supply Side Pressure could Lift Plate Steel Price in Tokyo

Plate steel market price is expected to increase again in the month after temporally peaking mood despite of the slow building market. The price is now expected to increase with pressure by the makers from 120,000 yen per tonne for product with 19 millimeters thick, 5 feet width and 10 feet length around Tokyo. The supply is very tight due to limited capacity of domestic makers. The processors’ inventory decreased to 112,919 tonnes at end of May, which was 9.2% lower than a year earlier level, according to the industry group. The inventory for shipment is 131.4%, which is 18.1 percentage points lower than a year earlier level. Cost pressure is also lifting the price level when the domestic makers increased by total 30,000 yen per tonne to cover higher cost for raw materials, energy and freight. The dealers try to pass the higher cost on the reselling price but they argue they still have room to charge on the users.