According to the report, the price of the ship plate may rise at the level of FY09 by days. Japanese steel mills and shipbuilders have reached a contractual agreement of 25% increase in ship plate price per ton.
The construction of a large tanker requires the use of about 40,000 tons of shipboard. The shipbuilding industry in Japan uses a total of 5.4 million tons of shipboards each year. Assuming that the ship prices in the second half of the fiscal year will remain unchanged, the Japanese steelyards' steel procurement costs will increase by 81 billion-97 billion yen this fiscal year.
Shipyards such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. expressed their strong opposition to the proposed fare increase, as the financial crisis in 2008 caused new orders to drop. These companies initially stated that they would purchase from overseas iron and steel companies, but eventually accepted price increases. In order to continue trading with Japanese suppliers, Japanese suppliers can flexibly arrange delivery dates.
JFE Steel, Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Metal, and other steelmakers have reached agreements with automakers and major home electronics manufacturers on raising 20-25% steel prices in the first half of the fiscal year.