Steel Plate Price Flat with Weak Tone in Tokyo

Steel plate price would maintain flat with potential decrease and expectation for inventory adjustment in Tokyo. The price is around 80,000 yen per tonne for products with 19 millimeters of thickness, 5 feet of width and 10 feet of length. The processed plate price is around 98,000 yen per tonne.Dealers and shearing processors have little expectation for the price increase with low demand and shipment for building construction in January-March. On the other hand, the prices of processed plate and material plate are unlikely to decrease when dealers gain earnings at the present price level. They aim to keep the price level.Steel plate demand continues firm for shipbuilding, construction and industrial machinery. Shearing processors are in full operation dealing with products for these demands. However, dealers do not expect much demand for building construction through January-March.Inventory adjustment has not advanced much since last year. Arrival from commodity grade steel plate maker has increased since October 2005 and the more supply delays the inventory adjustment. The market inventory volume at the end of December will be announced on Tuesday and the result seems to impact the market mood, confirming the progress of the adjustment. Dealers notice how far the market inventory decreased from around 500,000 tonnes at the end of November 2005.