Japan Dealer sales Decreases by 6.8% in August

Japanese dealers’ sales volume decreased to 2.815 million tonnes by 6.8% in August from a year earlier, by 12.6% form last month, according to Japan Iron and Steel Federation. The sales decreased for the first time in 2 months, which hit a record low as August. The sales decreased by 15.4% for rebar in August from a year earlier, which decreased for 15 consecutive months. The sales decreased by 13% for H-beam, which decreased for 5 consecutive months. The sales decreased by 8.5% for steel tube, which decreased for 4 consecutive months. The sales decreased by 4.7% for steel plate, which decreased for the first time in 26 months. The sales decreased by 3.3% for zinc coated steel sheet, which decreased for the first time in 8 months. The sales decreased by 3.2% for cold-rolled steel sheet, which decreased for the first time in 5 months. Meanwhile, the sales increased by 2.6% for hot-rolled steel sheet, which increased for 17 consecutive months. The sales for rebar, H-beam, and steel tube hit a record low as August.Japanese dealers’ inventory increased to 3.3 million tonnes by 2.3% at the ended of August from July, which increased for 5 consecutive months. The inventory increased for rebar, hot-rolled steel sheet, cold-rolled steel sheet, zinc coated steel sheet and steel plate. Especially, rebar inventory increased to 312,000 tonnes, which hit a record high.Meanwhile, the inventory for H-beam and steel tube slightly decreased. Japanese dealers’ inventory rate increased to 117.2% by 17.1 percentage points at the ended of August from July, which exceeded 100% for 4 consecutive months.