Japan H-Beam Stock Drops to Record Low Level in October

Japanese distributors’ H-beam inventory held by members of Tokiwa-kai, which is a group of distributors dealing Nippon Steel’s products, decreased by 3.5% to the lowest level of 159,500 tonnes at end of October from September, according to Nippon Steel. The stock decreased for 4 months in a row. The stock ratio downed by 0.03 points to 1.81 months against the shipment. Nippon Steel sees the stock level is decent when the demand is likely to maintain weak. The firm plans to keep the output level balanced with the actual demand.

Nippon Steel said the market condition is ready to push up H-beam market price when the stock level became decent and building projects are recovering.

Dealers’ shipment totaled 88,300 tonnes in October. The shipment per day kept the level at 4,500 tonnes for 3 consecutive months. H-beam arrivals at dealers increased by 10,500 tonnes to 82,600 tonnes in October from September.

The stock in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya decreased by 1.6% to 91,800 tonnes. Dealers around Osaka purchased H-beam due to shortage of some items and thus the delivered volume increased in the area. The dealers’ shipment decreased by 0.9% to 52,400 tonnes while the arrivals from the makers increased by 24.8% to 50,900 tonnes. The inventory ratio decreased by 0.05 points to 1.75 months of the shipment.