The metal monolith catalyst coated with 15wt% Ni/$MgAl_2O_4$ is applied to the natural gas steam reforming for hydrogen production. To address the improvement of adherence between metal monolith and catalyst coating layer, the pre-calcination temperature as well as the coating conditions of $Al_2O_3$ sol are optimized. When the Fe-Cr alloy monolith is pre-calcined at $900^{circ}C$ for 6 h, $Al_2O_3$ layer was formed uniformly on the entire surface of the metal substrate. It is seen that the formation of $Al_2O_3$ layer on the monolith surface is essential for the uniform coating of $Al_2O_3$ sol onto the monolith substrate. The monolith catalyst coated with 10wt% $Al_2O_3$ sol shows high $CH_4$ conversion and good thermal stability as compared with the monolith catalyst without $Al_2O_3$ sol coating under severe reaction conditions with high GHSV of 30,000 $h^{-1}$ at $700^{circ}C$. In addition, the metal monolith catalyst shows higher catalytic activity and better thermal conductivity than 15wt% Ni/$MgAl_2O_4$ pellet catalyst.