Firm Plate Steel Price in Tokyo

Plate steel market price is firm at around 88,000-90,000 yen per tonne for base size with 19 millimeters thick, 5 feet width and 10 feet length around Tokyo. The dealers try to increase the reselling price when the makers will increase the selling price by 15,000-20,000 yen. The price could increase more under better supply balance when some dealers try to increase the reselling price to more than 90,000 yen in late February. The processors’ selling price is 105,000 yen per tonne for cut processed products around Tokyo. The distributors and processors try to increase the reselling price to improve the profitability before the makers’ hike. Their shipment is still slow despite of the slight improvement from January. The demand increases for special grade products with more than 16 mm thick while the dealers cannot cover some of the order when they reduce the stock by around 30% from the peak under limited supply by makers. The makers reduce the shipment for the dealers since October to ship more for shipbuilders and construction machinery makers. Some processors try to source the materials from distributors for immediate processing.