Market: Japan steel plate demand to fall further in FY21

Japan’s plate consumption during fiscal 2021 (April 2021-March 2022) is expected to drop further with fewer new vessel orders received by the domestic shipbuilders, and it may take a few years to reverse up, market sources shared on March 12.

A sales official from a shipbuilding company in western Japan had expected the negative impact of the COVID-19 to ease with more people vaccinated globally and new business negotiations with overseas customers, thus, could resume soon. However, “the expectation may not come true, as the competition with the overseas rivals in prices have been