Steel plates used for common structures are manufactured by rolling processes in general. The rolling direction traces generated during the processes have significant influences on mechanical properties and fatigue behavior of the plates. The objective of present study is to investigate those directional characteristics for the enhancement of steel structure safety. SS400 steel plates of 3 mm thickness are tested in this study, When the angles between the tensile loading direction and the rolling direction of the plates are increased, their yield strengths are increased and elongations are rather decreased. It is also shown that fatigue crack growth rates in the plates can be increased according to the changes of those mechanical characteristics. For the safety of the structures, therefore, it is critical to decrease the angles between the rolling direction and the tensile loading direction.