JFE Steel to Plate Supply by 20% for Dealers in February-March

JFE Steel rejects around 20% of plate order from the distributors and spot buyers for February-March production. The firm aims to adjust supply and demand balance by reducing the inventory at the shearing processors.

The inventory held by the processors was 364,649 tonnes at end of December, which represented 229% of the shipment. The stock decreased from 550,986 tonnes in March 2009. However, the stock was still too high for the demand when the processors’ cut processed plate shipment decreased by 37% to 481,772 tonnes in October-December from same period of 2008.

JFE Steel cut the supply in February-March to decrease the inventory to less than 300,000 tonnes or 2 months for the shipment.

Despite the dealers’ low shipment, JFE Steel’s plate shipment stays high level when the demand is firm for shipbuilding and the export. The firm expects whole plate supply will keep tight while the processors need inventory adjustment.