Nippon Steel hikes price of steel plate
According to recent industry news in the market, Japan steel producer Nippon Steel has recently increased its steel plates for steel frame by Yen 10'000 ($93) per ton to be in effect for the contracts as of April. This figure indicates a 15% increase. The officials of Nippon Steel stated that price hikes will continue as a result of imbalance between supply and demand, which is mainly created by the strong demand from shipbuilding and construction sectors. Moreover, the officials underscored that hiking prices is an inevitable solution to compensate the imbalance between supply and demand, as an increase of 10% in demand for steel plates for steel frames is expected in 2004.