Nisshin Steel expands the production cut of stainless steel making at Shunan to averaged 60% from 50% before. The production cut is as much as 80% in temporally when the shop operates only 2-3 days a week.

Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel (NSSC) and other makers expand the production cut when the dealers' inventory increased. JFE Steel stops the chrome stainless cold rolling line for 1-2 days a week at Chiba area of East Japan works to reduce the production by 60% of capacity. NSSC reduces the stainless steel making by more than 50% of the capacity while the firm stops the cold rolling mills at Kashima and Hikari.

Stainless cold rolled flat steel stock was 52,538 tonnes for nickel series and 57,360 tonnes for chrome series at end of December, according to the coil centers' association. The chrome series stock keeps increasing while the nickel series stock decrease. –Japan Metal Bulletin