Strong Plate Steel Price in Tokyo

Steel plate price increased to around 118,000-119,000 yen per tonne by 5,000-6,000 yen for base size with 19 millimeters thick, 5 feet width and 10 feet length in this week compared with the first half of April, and at around 130,000 yen by 10,000 yen for cutting processed materials around Tokyo.Tokyo Steel Manufacturing raised the plate price to 129,000 yen per tonne by 12,000 yen for the contract in May from April. Nippon Steel announced to raise the price by 10,000 yen per tonne for the shipping in May-June. Dealers are passing increased purchase price on their selling price.Some shearing processor source said the firm raises the selling price to over 140,000 yen per tonne for cutting processed materials until the ended of May. Dealers would like to raise the selling price step by step due to rising purchase price after June.Plate inventory is reducing after May 2007, which held by distributors around Tokyo decreased to 109,676 tonnes at the end of March around Tokyo, according to Japan Steel Plate Shearing Industrial Guild.Each maker keeps full operation when the demand is strong for construction machinery and industrial machinery. But the supply isn’t keeping up with the demand. The supply and demand is tight in the extreme. The supply is reducing for dealers.On the other hand, dealers’ shipment doesn’t increase by a large margin. Some shearing processor source said the firm’s processing volume decreased by 10-20% after April from February-March due to back action of speculative demand. The demand for large size building project keeps good situation while small-middle size building project keeps slow.