The Japan Iron and Steel Association’s preliminary supply and demand report for ordinary steel products, released on 31 January 2024, indicated a continued decline in inventories. This is positive news for the industry, suggesting that inventory adjustment is progressing steadily.
Domestic market inventories:
Decreased by 30,000 tonnes (t) m-o-m from November 2023 to 5,078,000 t in December 2023. This marks the fourth consecutive month of decline.
Export inventories:
The export inventories went down by 30,000 t from November 2023 to 995,000 t in December 2023.
Combined inventory ratio:
Inventory ratio of both domestic and exported products hiked by 2.3 percentage points from November 2023 to 127.4%.
The continued decline in steel inventories is a positive sign for the Japanese steel industry. It suggests that the industry is making progress in reducing excess inventory, which could help to support steel prices in the future.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Japan Metal Daily and BigMint