Firm Plate Price in Tokyo

Plate steel price is strong tone at 80,000 yen per tonne for product with 19 millimeters thick, 5 feet width and 10 feet length around Tokyo. The cut processed plate price is more than 95,000 yen. The demand keeps firm for shipbuilding, construction and industrial machinery. The demand for bridge and construction also recovers. Domestic plate makers manage to keep the delivery under the tight rolling schedule. However, the demand was relatively low at distributors in January-February due to the order delay from contractors. The demand conditions differ under the influence of purchase integration by large and middle contract users. Steel plate supply is expected to tighten due to expansion work of Haneda airport. Shearing processors are concerned about material purchasing. Processor source said the firm needs to check steel plate makers’ deliver conditions before order acceptance. The market inventory is expected to keep low level when the import is decreasing.