Japan Common Steel Orders Increase by 5.7% in 1H

Order reception volume at Japanese steel makers for common steel products increased by 5.7% to 38.617 million tonnes in April-September 2006 from a year ago, announced Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Monday. Orders increased thanks to the increase of export and domestic demand from manufacturing industries. Orders for industrial machine increased by 17% and those for automobile by 3.7%. Orders for building construction increased by 8.1% while decreased for civil engineering and other construction.Orders increased by 3% to 28.085 million tonnes for domestic market and by 14% to 10.531 million tonnes for export in April-September from a year ago. Domestic usage orders increased by 3.6% to 11.587 million tonnes for manufacturing industries, by 2.2% to 6.716 million tonnes for construction and by 3% to 8.417 million tones for wholesalers.Order reception volume in September was 6.412 million tonnes, increasing by 6.5% from a year ago. The orders increased for both export and domestic demand. Domestic orders increased for construction, automobile, industrial machine and electric machine, while decreased for shipbuilding and civil engineering.