Strong Plate Price in Tokyo

Plate steel market price keeps flat in strong tone at around 120,000 yen per tonne for standard sized product with 19 millimeters thick, 5 feet width and 10 feet length and at around 140,000 yen for cut processed materials at dealers’ sites around Tokyo. The dealers have tried to raise reselling price to reflect makers’ price hike, though the hike was choked off by slow demand. The market price is likely to rise under tight supply with decreased inventory. The demand is increasing mainly from shipbuilding or construction machinery. Steel plate makers have aggressively tried to expand the output capacity. But the supply volume seems not to increase soon. Nippon Steel and Chubu Steel Plate increased the selling price by 10,000 yen to nearly 120,000 yen per tonne for August-September shipment. Some of shearing processors raised the reselling price by 5,000 yen per tonne to reflect higher purchasing price. The processors aim to gain processing charge at 30,000-35,000 yen per tonne. The processors’ inventory decreased by 5.9% to 114,870 tonnes at the end of June from a year earlier around Tokyo, according to the industry group. The inventory is especially short for extremely-thick plate or the plate for the size with 9-16 millimeters thick.