Japan Ｈ-beam Inventory Decreases after 6 Months

Japanese H-beam inventory increased by 3.3% to 285,000 tonnes at the end of April from a month ago among distributors dealing Nippon Steel’s products, announced Nippon Steel on Thursday. The inventory decreased for the first time in 6 months. Total inventory against shipment was 2.02 months, which became above 2 months for 4 consecutive months. The inventory decreased when H-beam arrival became fewer due to makers’ output reduction and construction demand recovered in Nagoya and Kyusyu area which was slower impacted by the problem of structural calculation sheets fabrication. Nippon Steel said domestic H-beam demand has not gained momentum yet though recovering. H-beam shipment became slower since November 2005 when building authorization took longer time due to the problem of structural calculation sheets fabrication. Ｈ-beam inventory hit the bottom at record 230,600 tonnes at distributors dealing Nippon Steel’s products at the end of October 2005 in Japan, while the inventory turned to the increase since December 2005 and expanded to 294,700 tonnes at the end of March 2006. Nippon Steel is reducing H-beam production by 20% since March compared with the average output during October-December 2005 in order to reduce market inventory and avoid price declining.