Weak Plate Steel Price in Tokyo

Plate steel market price maintains weak around Tokyo. Shearing processors’ selling volume is halving from a year earlier when the demand keeps low for long term from building materials or construction machines. Users are requesting price cut to shearing processors.

Plate steel market price is 95,000-100,000 yen per tonne for standard sized products with 19 millimeters thickness, 5 feet width and 10 feet length and at around 110,000 yen for cut processed materials around Tokyo. The price would decrease more when some shearing processors are selling at cheaper price. A processor said they can’t accept orders without price down.

Dealers’ inventory to shipment has increased to over 3 months while been adjusted in recent days. Shearing processors’ inventory decreased to 122,986 tonnes at the end of July from 158,355 tonnes at the end of April, according to Japan Shearing Processor Association. Dealers reduced the acceptance volume due to low sales. Plate makers decreased the output since April.

Shearing processors’ inventory rate decreased by 38.4 percentage points to 229.5% in July from May, which decreased for 3 consecutive months. Processors sales maintained decreasing mainly for building materials. Big building projects have been suspended.

The demand is likely to continue largely reduction for construction machines and industrial machines. Construction machine makers expect the demand recovers after fiscal 2010 ending in March 2011.