Plate Market to Recover in Tokyo

Plate steel market price shows sign to increases toward October around Tokyo. The price is around 82,000 yen per tonne for standard size with 19 millimeters thick, 5 feet width and 10 feet length and 98,000 yen for cut processed materials. The dealers try to increase the reselling price after Nippon Steel hikes the selling price by 3,000 yen and the dealers’ shipment improves. Domestic plate demand is expected to keep strong due to high level activity of shipbuilders and construction machinery makers. The building demand also improves when major building projects starts toward early 2008. Major searing processors already get order backlog and the order could exceed their capacity, which provides additional order for smaller sized processors. Domestic plate markers operate the plate mills at full capacity. They expect the supply should get tighter for September-December compared with June-August. The dealers’ inventory decreases due to the limited supply. The processors’ association reported the inventory decreased to 457,214 tonnes at the end of July from the peak of 473,912 tonnes in May. The shipment increased for 2 months in a row through July. The processors try to secure the materials toward demand season.