Rebar Demand Drops in Tokyo

Concrete reinforcing steel bar output was around 320,000 tonnes around Tokyo in October, which was 2% higher than September and 10% lower than a year earlier. The output is expected to decrease in November when the makers reduce the output to adjust to lower demand under very slow building demand. The makers could keep reducing the output with less order receipt condition toward early 2008 though they still keep the order backlog.The rebar shipment was around 320,000 tonnes around Tokyo in October, which was 10% higher than September and 6% lower than a year earlier. Some makers said the output and shipment is still firm while the industry concerns lower order input under very slow building activity due to transition process for new building standard law. They could expand the output reduction after December while they already cut the output in November. The rebar inventory around Tokyo was around 190,000 tonnes at end of October, which was 5,000 tonnes higher than September. The stock increased due to stockpile for outage during facility renewal and the stock is expected to decrease gradually. Construction steel demand is expected to drop sharply when building start dropped widely recent months. Local rebar makers around Tokyo try to adjust the output and sales level to the demand for stable market condition.