Higher Brass Bar Stock in Osaka

Brass bar inventory increase at the dealers’ warehouses around Osaka. The shipment from makers to dealers increases based on advanced order from the dealers when the makers lead time shortens recently under slower demand. The dealers’ cash position gets severe when their shipment is slow despite of the higher demand.

The demand is slow for construction and manufacturers around Osaka. A dealer said the shipment decreases by 10% in every month in July-September. Many of the dealers cannot meet sales target partly due to lower copper price.

The dealers’ shipment decreased after the buyers’ inventory building purchase through May since the major earthquake. The buyers hold the order when copper ingot official price reached 800,000 yen per tonne in July.

The brass bar makers kept high level production through July to meet the existing order while the order receipt started to decrease since June. The makers normalize the lead time and the dealers complete inventory rebuilding. The buyers now purchase the material only for immediate use.

The lead time is getting shorter while the makers’ lead time is around one month in normal time. A dealer said some makers can provide products with 20 millimeters diameter or more in 2 weeks and some makers can deliver the products as early as in 10 days.