Japan Steel Sheet Stock Exceeds 4MT for 2 Months

Japanese inventory of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheet steel for domestic shipment held by makers, distributors and processors increased by 42,000 tonnes or 1% to 4.07 million tonnes at the end of April from a month ago. The inventory exceeded 4 million tonnes for 2 months in a row. Domestic integrated steel makers are concerned the inventory may increase more.An official of Nippon Steel analyzed the inventory increased when domestic heating production decreased due to warm winter and the number of non-housing building construction starts decreased. He said Nippon Steel pay much attention to the inventory level even though the inventory tends to increase in every April-May and the firm continues output and shipment reduction to stop the inventory increase. Nippon Steel targets less than 4 million tonnes toward June. The inventory increased by 2.6% to 1.76 million tonnes for makers, increased by 0.1% to 797,000 tonnes for distributors, while decreased by 0.3% to 1.513 million tonnes for processors at the end of April from a month ago. The inventory increased by 0.5% to 2.129 million tonnes for hot-rolled steel sheet, by 2.1% to 759,000 tonnes for cold-rolled steel sheet and by 1.2% to 1.182 million tonnes for coated steel sheet at the end of April from a month earlier.