Inventory of sheet steel products rose by 96,000 tonnes (t) m-o-m to 4.46 million tonnes (mnt) in late-August 2022, marking the first increase in three months. The rise in inventory was mainly due to the summer holidays in Japan.
Out of the total inventory in end-August, the inventory with manufacturers stood at 1.91 mnt, up 83,000 t from the last month, while inventories with the wholesalers and coil-centres rose by 9,000 t and 4,000 t to 9,75,000 t and 1,58,000 t, respectively.
As regards product-wise breakup, inventories of hot-rolled coil (HRC) increased by 58,000 t m-o-m to 2.23 mnt, while that of cold-rolled coil (CRC) rose by 13,000 t to 9,58,000 t.
“It is anticipated that demand is likely to improve with the restart of construction activities and easing of constraints related to supply of manufacturing parts, which will lead to decline in inventories”, said an industry source.
The inventory rate stood at 3.18 months in August compared with 3.06 months in the previous month. Product-wise inventory rate for HRC was at 3.68 months, CRC at 3.51 months, and surface treatment at 2.43 months in August.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Japan Metal Daily and SteelMint.
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