Japan Carbon Steel Stock Drops by 0.7% in March

Japan Iron and Steel Federation announced on Monday Japanese carbon steel inventory held by the makers and dealers decreased by 0.7% or 37,000 tonnes to 5.513 million tonnes for domestic shipment at the end of March from February. The inventory decreased for 2 months in a row. The inventory decreased by 21.8% or 252,000 tonnes to 901,000 tonnes for export shipping, which decreased for the first time in 3 months. The total inventory rate decreased by 19.7 percentage points to 92.2% of the shipment, which decreased to less than 100% for the first time in 12 months. The rate decreased by 12.9 points to 126.2% for domestic shipment.

The total inventory decreased by 4.3% or 289,000 tonnes to 6.413 million tonnes at the end of March from February. The inventory decreased for 2 months in a row. The inventory held by the makers decreased by 7.1% or 380,000 tonnes to 4.96 million tonnes, which decreased for the first time in 3 months. The inventory held by the dealers increased by 6.7% or 91,000 tonnes to 1.454 million tonnes, which increased for the first time in 2 months.