Nippon Steel to Stop H-beam Output for a Week

Nippon Steel stops H-beam rolling mills at Kimitsu and Sakai works for around a week from late July to reduce H-beam output by 70,000-80,000 tonnes. The firm left H-beam selling price unchanged for the dealers for July order to reject new order and encourage inventory adjustment by keeping the selling price higher than market price.

H-beam inventory held by members of Tokiwakai, which is the distributors’ group dealing Nippon Steel’s product, increased by 4.7% to 215,400 tonnes at the end of June from May, according to Nippon Steel. The stock increased for 6 months in a row. The inventory rate for the shipment decreased to 2.73 months from 2.64 months in May. However, Nippon Steel warns the stock level is too high for the demand level.

The H-beam shipment increased by 5,100 tonnes to 78,700 tonnes in June from May. However, the daily shipment decreased by 300 tonnes to 3,600 tonnes. The delivery from the makers to the dealers decreased by 3,000 tonnes to 88,100 tonnes, which decreased for 3 months in a row.