Japan Steel Sheet Stock Hits First 3.9MT in 19 Months

Japanese steel sheet inventory held by makers, dealers, and coil centers increased by 2.9% (109,000 tonnes) to 3.918 million tonnes at the end of October from a month earlier. The stock exceeded 3.9 million tonnes for the first time since March 2009. Makers’ inventory increased due to domestic demand slowdown mainly for automobiles. Nippon Steel commented steel makers should review their demand forecast cautiously and adjust their output volume along actual demand level.

Sheet steel inventory held by makers increased by 5.0% to 1.829 million tonnes. Dealers’ stock increased by 3.5% to 769,000 tonnes while coil centers’ stock decreased by 0.3% to 1.32 million tonnes. By items, hot-rolled sheet stock increased by 1.7% to 2.019 million tonnes and cold-rolled sheet stock increased by 3.8% to 760,000 tonnes. Coated steel stock increased by 4.4% to 1.139 million tonnes.

The inventory rate upped by 0.15 percentage points to 2.65 months against shipment for hot rolled sheet, upped by 0.08 points to 2.2 months for cold rolled sheet and upped by 0.16 points to 1.61 months for coated sheet. The total inventory rate upped by 0.15 points to 2.16 months.