JFE Steel to Raise Steel Plate Price for South Korean Shipbuilders

JFE Steel agreed with South Korean shipbuilders in increasing steel plate export price by about US$ 220-230 to around FOB US$ 850-900 per tonne for shipment during April-September 2008 compared with the half year started October 2007.The plate demand is strong for shipbuilding, construction machine and energy industry worldwide and expected to keep the situation in fiscal 2008 starting April. Japanese integrated steel maker source forecasts domestic steel plate supply would be short by over 1 million tonnes in Japan. The supply would become even tighter.In South Korea, shipbuilding award volume increased by 47% to 19.03 million CG tonnes in January-September 2007 from the corresponding period of 2006, according to South Korean Shipbuilders’ Association. South Korean shipbuilders seem to hold order backlogs for next 5 years. They are building up the capacities by a large degree. They are requesting Japanese steel makers to increase steel plate output.International spot price of steel plate is increasing to over US$ 1,000 per tonne at the highest. JFE Steel offered the price hike by US$ 250 per tonne this time due to the upsurge of market price.