Japanese Steel Inventory Increases in January

Japanese hot, cold and coated sheet steel inventory held by makers, distributors and processors increased by 2.8% or 95,000 tonnes to 3.514 million tonnes at the end of January from a month earlier. The inventory represented the month-to-month increase for 2 months in a row. The inventory rate increased by 0.02percentage point to 1.98 months of shipment.

Nippon Steel suggested the inventory seems to have increased seasonally at the yearend and the New Year season. The inventory is forecasted to decrease to around 3.4 million tonnes toward the end of Japanese major fiscal year in March, said the source.

The inventory decreased by 0.3% to 1.571 million tonnes at makers, increased by 6.1% to 735,000 tonnes at distributors and increased by 5% to 1.208 million tonnes at processors.

The inventory increased by 1.9% to 1.809 million tonnes for hot rolled sheet, increased by 2.5% to 691,000 tonnes for cold rolled sheet and increased by 4.5% to 1.013 million tonnes for coated sheet.

Japanese carbon steel inventory held by makers and distributors increased by 2.4% to 5.989 million tonnes at the end of January from a month earlier, which represented the month-to-month increase for 4 months, announced by Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Friday. The makers’ inventory increased by 2.8% to 4.74 million tonnes, which showed increase for 4 straight months, while the distributors’ inventory increased by 1% to 1.249 million tonnes, represented increase after 2 months.

The inventory for domestic shipment increased by 0.2% to 4.796 million tonnes, which represented the month-to-month increase for 4 straight months. The inventory for export increased by 12.7% to 1.193 million tonnes, which upped after 2 months and exceeded 1 million tonnes for 3 months in a row.