Japan Inventory of Steel Products Down, Sheets Up in January

Japanese inventory of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheet steel for domestic shipment held by makers, distributors and processors hit record 4.729 million tonnes at the end of January, increasing slightly by 21,000 tonnes from a month ago. Steel makers expect the inventory could hit the bottom during January-March and the demand might recover for April-June. But the inventory adjustment may delay.

The inventory increased by 0.2% to 1.858 million tonnes at makers, by 1.9% to 1.086 million tonnes at distributors while decreased by 0.8% to 1.785 million tonnes at processors at the end of January from a month ago.

The inventory decreased by 0.1% to 2.468 million tonnes for hot rolled sheet, by 3% to 9130,000 tonnes for cold rolled steel sheet while decreased by 0.2% to 1.348 million tonnes for coated steel sheet.

Japanese carbon steel inventory for domestic market decreased by 2% (115,000 tonnes) to 5.766 million tonnes at the end of January from a month earlier. The inventory represented the first decrease in 6 months, according to Japan Iron & Steel Federation. The inventory for export increased by 2.3% (15,000 tonnes) to 362,000 tonnes.

The inventory to shipment ratio surged by 16.5 percentage points to 143.6%, which exceeded 100% for 3 consecutive months due to slow shipment. The inventory to shipment ratio for domestic market surged by 12.9 points to 167.9%, the record high since January 1976.

Japanese steel makers’ inventory decreased by 1.9% to 4.656 million tonnes at the end of January from a month ago, down for 2 consecutive months. The distributors’ inventory decreased by 0.4% to 1.512 million tonnes, down for 9 consecutive months.