Japan Shipyards Said to Ask Lower Steel Prices, Warn of Cuts

Japanese shipbuilders will ask local steel mills to cut prices for plate used to construct vessels or be replaced by rivals from South Korea or China as the yen strengthens, three people familiar with the matter said.

The Shipbuilders’ Association of Japan Chairman Kazuaki Kama is scheduled to meet Eiji Hayashida, head of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, as soon as next week to request lower prices, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public. Japanese shipbuilders, the world’s third-largest by output, pay local mills as much as 30 percent more for plates than do South Korean yards, one of the people said.