Japan Sheet Steel Stock Rises Again in May

Japanese hot, cold and coated sheet steel inventory held by makers, distributors and processors increased by 1.6% or 66,000 tonnes to 4.108 million tonnes at end of May from April, which was increases for 2 months in a row. Nippon Steel warns the supply could be oversupply without inventory control to meet the slower demand level. The makers’ inventory increased by 1.7% to 1.771 million tonnes at end May from April. The stock increased by 2.2% to 806,000 tonnes for the distributors, which was first 800,000 tonnes mark since January, and by 1.5% to 1.532 million tonnes for the processors. The hot rolled flat steel inventory increased by 1.0% to 2.134 million tonnes at end May from April. The stock increased by 3.0% to 716,000 tonnes for cold rolled flat steel and by 2.0% to 1.259 million tonnes for coated steel. The coated steel stock reached 1.25 million tonnes for the first time since January. The inventory level increases by averaged 123,000 tonnes in May from April in past 10 years. The higher inventory is normal but the domestic demand is gets slower especially for small building activity.