Steel Plate Market Price Continues to Decrease, Tokyo

Steel plate market price is gradually decreasing around Tokyo. Distributors, mainly shearing processors, are suffered from wide decline of plate orders and sales volume in every major demand fields such as constructions and machines for constructions and manufacturing industries. Shearing processors are lowering the reselling price to adjust their inventories when plate market price is expected to decrease more.

The market price is around 115,000 yen per tonne for standard size with 19 millimeters of thickness, 5 feet of width by 10 feet of length, down by 5,000 yen from the end of February, while around 130,000-135,000 yen per tonne for cut processed materials, down by 5,000-10,000 yen from the end of February. As to cut processed materials, some shearing processors are offering below 120,000 yen this month. The market price is likely to become lower than 130,000 yen soon.

According to the dealers’ association around Tokyo, plate sales decreased by 62.1% to 16,627 tonnes in February from a year earlier while plate inventory increased by 42.4% to 84,326 tonnes at major distributors around Tokyo.

Market dealers forecast plate demand would continue to decrease in and after April. In the construction market, new construction starts are stagnant scheduled in a new fiscal year starting April. Plate demand also seems not to recover from construction and industrial machines during first 6 months of fiscal 2009. Plate market price is expected to maintain downward. Another negative factor is that Tokyo Steel Manufacturing would lower its plate selling price by 5,000 yen to 65,000 yen per tonne for April contracts. The firm decreases the selling price for 3 straight months.