Japan Special Steel Accepted Order Increases by 26.1% in F2010

Japanese accepted order volume of special steel products increased by 26.1% to 19.162 million tonnes in fiscal 2010 ended in March 2011 compared with fiscal 2009, according to Japan Iron & Steel Federation. The volume hit the third highest in late 5 years while closed to the peak level at 19.62 million tonnes in fiscal 2007.

The order receipt for export increased by 29.4% to 6.855 million tonnes, the record high since fiscal 2006. The order receipt for domestic market increased by 24.3% to 12.308 million tonnes. Domestic demand recovered from Lehman’s fall, increasing by 80.7% to 1.566 million tonnes for industrial machinery, increasing by 10% to 3.815 million tonnes for automobile and increasing by 56.4% to 1.517 million tonnes for dealers.

In March 2011, the order volume for automobile decreased by 7% to 286,617 tonnes compared with February due to mega earthquake though the volume maintained above 300,000 tonnes from April 2010 to February 2011. Total order receipt in March increased by 9% to 1.624 million tonnes. The volume increased by 3.6% to 1.022 million tonnes for domestic demand while increased by 19.6% to 602,188 tonnes for export.