Japan Hot, Cold, Coated Steel Stock Drops by 3.4% in February

Japanese inventory of hot, cold and coated steel decreased by 3.4% to 4.138 million tonnes held by the makers, distributors and coil centers at end of February from January. The inventory decreased by 146,000 tonnes compared with 100,000 tonnes level of decrease in usual February due to production cut by major steel makers. The inventory was 390,000 tonne higher than February 2011. Nippon Steel sees the stock was still high for the demand and the industry should focus on the adjustment. The makers’ inventory decreased by 3.5% to 1.855 million tonnes in February from January. The inventory decreased by 4.5% to 868,000 tonnes for the distributors and by 2.5% to 1.415 million tonnes for the coil center. The inventory decreased by 3.3% to 2.087 million tonnes for hot rolled flat steel in February from January. The inventory decreased by 2.0% to 817,000 tonnes for cold rolled flat steel and by 4.6% to 1.234 million tonnes for coated steel.