JFE Steel Offers US$ 300/t Plate Hike for Korea Shipbuilders

JFE Steel started to offer US$ 300 per tonne higher plate export price for April-June shipment for South Korean shipbuilders. The firm tries to improve the profitability through the hike to keep stable supply in volume and quality when world steel price increases and plate supply gets tight.

JFE Steel recognizes international price increased to more than US$ 800 per tonne for slab and near US$ 900 for hot rolled coil in Asia under growing steel demand and surging raw materials cost. The firm tries to increase the low leveled plate export price to South Korean shipbuilders to meet the international price level.

JFE Steel expects plate supply gets tighter gradually despite of the major expansion by South Korean steel makers. The firm expects plate rerollers cannot increase the plate supply due to limited slab availability in price and volume while Japanese steel makers have no room for additional supply.

JFE Steel sees South Korean shipbuilding plate demand increases while Japanese shipbuilding demand shows no sign for major drop. The firm gets strong plate order from energy industry and mining industry.

The firm concluded the long run price negotiation with South Korean shipbuilders to realize higher price for January-March. The export price is still lower than 950,000 won per tonne of POSCO’s list price but the US$ 300 per tonne of hike would lift JFE Steel’s export price to more than US$ 1,000.