Bloomberg reported that Nippon Steel Corp will raise contract prices of steel plate for domestic shipbuilders about 40% to a record.

According to steel traders, steel plate will increase by JPY 30,000 (USD 278) a tonne by September 30th 2008.

Nippon Steel said that it would raise immediate delivery prices for plate, used to make machinery and ships, by about 10% to JPY 110,000 a tonne as of this month. That gain followed a JPY 20,000 increase in April for the company's network of wholesalers.

Nippon Steel, which forecasts a 41% drop in annual profit, needs to raise prices to help offset a tripling of costs for coking coal and a surge of at least 65% in the price of iron ore.

Shipbuilders have accepted increases amid a boom in orders for vessels, driven partly by Chinese demand for iron ore from Australia and Brazil to make steel.