Nippon Steel to Cut H-Beam Supply for Dealers

Nippon Steel announced on Tuesday the firm reduces the H-beam supply by 90% for distributors in January compared with normal level. The firm expands the supply cut under slower demand while the supply was more than 80% lower in December from normal level. The firm doesn’t accept distributors’ order for December order as November to improve the supply balance.

Nippon Steel reported H-beam dealers’ inventory held by members of Tokiwa-kai, which is group of distributors dealing Nippon Steel’s products, increased by 1% to 275,200 tonnes at end of November from October, which increased for 7 months in a row. The inventory for shipment increased to 2.72 months from 2.48 months. The stock decreased by 0.8% to 135,000 tonnes in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya while the stock increased by 2.8% to 140,200 tonnes in other areas.

Nippon Steel sees the demand decreases sharply when major building plans are postponed under slow economy. The firm expects the demand decreases by 20-30% from a year earlier level. The dealers’ H-beam shipment gets lower. Nippon Steel decided the additional supply cut for the dealers to improve the supply balance.