The negotiation of ship plate price for the first quarter of 2014 is proceeding due to price issue. For Japanese steel mills side, they persist in original quotation although Hyundai Heavy Industries strongly asks for price down. Japanese steel mills probably would cancel the price negotiation next time.
On the other hand, Hyundai Steel is the only steel mill accepting the price down about US$19/ton, especially Posco urges that the price would go up further in Korean local steel market. However, market insiders predict that Hyundai Heavy Industries will keep asking for falling price.
For Chinese steel mills, they are asked for price reducing by nearly US$100/ton to around US$500/ton.
It is reported that Hyundai Heavy Industries would purchase the ship plate about 400,000 tons in 2014.