Japan negotiations on plates for Korean shipbuilders

23/04/2013 12:00 - 425 Views

Negotiations on shipbuilding steel plates for the Korean shipbuilders like Hyundai Heavy Industries are going into full swing for shipment of April to June from this week, and there is a possibility for such negotiations not to take an ultra-long period as before.

Such case has been distinct lately that even if it passes more than 3 months, negotiations on shipbuilding plates for Korea are not concluded.

Although Korea' strong request for price down is the biggest factor of it due to a downturn of shipbuilding, there is another factor for an antidumping issue on plates to have been smoldering between Japan and Korea.

In this backdrop, there is irritation that Japan's export quantity of plates to Korea did not decrease remarkably despite that production capacity of plates of the Korean plate mills has been raised.

On the occasion of negotiations for shipment of this quarter, the Japanese mills have been concerned about an AD appeal by the Korean mills. In the middle of May, the Japan-Korea steel dialogue is scheduled to be held in Seoul.

Therefore, some among the Japanese mills had the mind set to make them reach the goal of negotiations after such dialogue is held. However, in that case, it becomes from mid-May onward for contracts to be made.

Export quantity of plates for Korea in February 2013 dramatically decreased by 66.2% from the same month last year to 49.7 thousand tonne. It had been since April, 2003 that export quantity of plates to that country fell below 50,000 tonne a month for the first time in almost 10 years.

In March as well, it is certain for it to dip below 100,000 tons. In that case, one of the requisites for the AD case is to disappear.

In Korea, the won is continuing to depreciate. Prices increase will not be so concerned about that converted into the dollar.

Under the circumstances, the factors to prolong negotiations are few both for Japan and Korea for the time being. As the Chinese mills decided to raise their plate prices of this quarter shipment for Korea, there is a strong possibility for negotiations to be settled over a short run this time.

Friday, 19 Apr 2013

Source: steelguru.com