Japan Sheet Steel Stock Drops by 2.4% in February

Japanese hot, cold and coated steel sheet inventory held by makers, distributors and processors decreased by 2.4% or 99,000 tonnes to 3.957 million tonnes for domestic shipment at the end of February from January, which represented first drop in 3 months and decreased to less than normal level of 4 million tonnes. The stock decreased by near 100,000 tonnes under strong demand though the stock decreases around 60,000 tonnes in usual February. Nippon Steel said the firm tries to keep the stock with less than 4 million tonnes in May though the stock tends to increase in April and May after drop in March. The sheet inventory decreased by 6.0% to 1.698 million tonnes for makers at the end of February from January. The stock increased by 0.3% to 773,000 tonnes for distributors and by 0.3% to 1.485 million tonnes for processors. Japanese industry considers the stock level is normal with less than 800,000 tonnes for distributors and less than 1.5 million tonnes for processors. The inventory decreased by 0.8% to 2.063 million tonnes for hot rolled flat steel, by 5.3% to 740,000 tonnes for cold rolled flat steel and by 3.2% to 1.154 million tonnes for coated steel at the end of February from January.