Japan Steel Sheet Inventory Decreases in February

Japanese inventory of hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel sheet decreased by 1.9% to 4.359 million tonnes held by makers, dealers and coil centers for domestic shipment at the end of February from January. The inventory decreased for the first time in 2 months. Especially the dealers’ inventory decreased both month-to-month and year-to-year, which proved the stock decreasing trend in the market. However, the total steel sheet stock could not decline to near 4 million tonnes at the end of March against the expectation since 2005.The inventory decreased for almost all products and especially at dealers and coil centers more than makers at the end of February from January. The dealers’ steel sheet inventory decreased to the level at the end of March 2005.