Japan Carbon Steel Stock Decreases by 4.9% in July

Japanese carbon steel inventory decreased by 4.9% or 230,000 tonnes to 4.46 million tonnes for domestic shipment at end of July from June, which decreased for 7 months in a row, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The stock for export increased by 15.0% or 150,000 tonnes to 1.14 million tonnes, which increased for 3 straight months.

The carbon steel inventory at makers increased by 0.6% or 25,000 tonnes to 3.61 million tonnes at end of July from June, which showed increases for 2 months in a row while the stock at dealers decreased by 8.1% or 105,000 tonnes to 1.18 million tonnes, which decreased for 7 straight months.

The carbon steel shipment decreased by 33.6% to 3.61 million tonnes in July from a year earlier, which decreased for 12 consecutive months while the shipment for export decreased by 4.1% to 1.96 million tonnes and showed decline for 9 months in a row. The total shipment decreased by 25.5% to 5.57 million tonnes, which decreased for 10 months in a row while the production decreased by 24.0% to 5.49 million tonnes and decreased for 10 consecutive months.

The stock rate was 100.6% at end of July, which was 9.7 percentage points lower than the figure in June and the stock rate for domestic market decreased by 10.6 percentage points to 123.5%.