Firm Plate Price in Tokyo

Japanese plate supply is getting tighter despite of full capacity operations by domestic makers under firm demand for shipbuilding, construction machinery, pipe and export along with demand recovery for bridge and building. The market price is firm at 79,000-80,000 yen per tonne for standard grade with 19 millimeters thick, 5 feet width and 10 feet length. The cut processed plate price is more than 90,000 yen around Tokyo. Domestic plate inventory decreased by 1.8% to 451,181 tonnes at the end of July from June, according to Japan Steel Plate Shearing Industrial Guild. The stock decreased to less than 460,000 tonnes for the first time in 18 months. The stock level represents the tighter supply of plate. The guild reported the processing volume decreased by 1.2% to 211,517 tonnes in July from a year earlier. The tight supply of plate is due to strong demand for contract users, which represent more than half of domestic plate demand while the demand is still slow for shearing processors.