Japan Sheet Steel Stock Drops by 2.3% in February

Japanese hot, cold and coated sheet steel inventory held by makers, distributors and coil centers decreased by 2.3% to 4.082 million tonnes at end of February from January. The inventory decreased for the first time in 2 months. However, Nippon Steel warns the stock level is still higher than normal 4 million tonnes and the firm tries to keep the supply balance through closed watch for the demand activity. The makers’ stock decreased by 2.1% to 1.801 million tonnes at end of February from January. The stock decreased by 4.3% to 772,000 tonnes for distributors and by 1.4% to 1.508 million tonnes for coil centers. The stock decreased by 1.3% to 2.145 million tonnes for hot rolled flat steel, by 6.8% to 690,000 tonnes for cold rolled flat steel and by 1.3% to 1.247 million tonnes for coated steel. Nippon Steel sees the building demand is still lower than normal level while steel demand keeps firm for manufacturers and export. The firm concerns the higher yen rate could increase the import to Japanese market.