Japan Carbon Steel Order Drops by 9.6% in April

Japanese carbon steel order receipt decreased by 9.6% to 5.739 million tonnes in April from a year earlier, which decreased for 2 months in a row, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday. The order from domestic buyers decreased by 5.5% to 3.618 million tonnes, which decreased for 2 months in a row, due to disruption of production activity in manufacturers including automakers after the major earthquake. The export order decreased by 15.9% to 2.121 million tonnes, which decreased for 3 months in a row, when the demand decreased under adjustment in Asian market and slower automobile production activity.

The carbon steel order from domestic buyers decreased by 37.6% to 498,000 tonnes for automobile in April from a year earlier. The order decreased by 16.1% to 128,000 tonnes for industrial machinery and by 8.1% to 133,000 tonnes for electrical machinery and equipment. The order decreased by 18.2% to 1.572 million tonnes for total manufacturers.

The domestic carbon steel order was still slow for construction in April while the order increased by 1.3% to 912,000 tonnes from a year earlier. The order decreased by 0.9% to 504,000 tonnes for building and by 4.0% to 205,000 tonnes for civil works while the order increased by 4.1% to 203,000 tonnes for other construction applications including temporary construction materials and hardware. The order from distributors, of which around 70% is used in construction industry, increased by 12.8% to 1.134 million tonnes.