Japan Carbon Steel Order Increases by 6.8% in April

Japan Iron and Steel Federation announced on Monday Japanese carbon steel order receipt increased by 6.8% to 6.132 million tonnes in April from a year earlier. The order increased for 2 months in a row. The order increased by 2.7% to 3.716 million tonnes for domestic market, which increased for 2 months in a row. The order for export increased by 13.9% to 2.416 million tonnes, which increased for 2 months in a row. The order marked the highest level in 15 months due to temporary correction of higher yen exchange rate. The order for civil engineering increased by 20.4% to 246,000 tonnes.

The domestic order increased by 5.2% to 1.654 million tonnes for manufacturing in April from a year earlier. The order for construction increased by 4.8% to 956,000 tonnes. The order for manufacturing increased for the first time in 6 months. The order was supported by order for automobile. The order for automobile increased by 44% to 717,000 tonnes while the order for shipbuilding decreased by 22.1% to 383,000 tonnes. The total domestic order increased from very low level a year go due to disruption of supply chain just after the major earthquake in March 2011.

The order for manufacturing decreased by 2.7% in April from March. The order for automobile decreased by 6.1% for automobile and by 9.6% for construction. The order for building decreased by 13.3% to 530,000 tonnes while the order increased by 19.5% for civil engineering.

Yen exchange rate keeps less than 80 yen per US dollar after the temporary correction of higher rate. The export would decrease in and after May.