Hyundai Steel is pushing the drive to expand its presence in the Japanese market for steel plates for ships, with up to four new supply contracts looking likely to be closed during the second half of the year.

The company, which began producing thick steel plates in April 2010, has been supplying thick plates to Japanese construction firms and machinery makers since September.

According to the company, it has been in contact with a number of Japanese shipbuilders and three or four supply contracts are likely to be signed before the end of the year.

The combined scale of the potential contracts is about 10,000 metric tons per month, the company said.

Hyundai Steel, however, declined to identify the Japanese shipbuilders it has been in talks with saying that the potential clients requested anonymity.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)