Japan Carbon Steel Order Declines by 3.5% in March

Japanese carbon steel order receipt decreased by 3.5% to 6.056 million tonnes in March from a year earlier, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Thursday. The domestic order decreased by 3.5% to 3.815 million tonnes due to slow demand for automobile and industrial machinery after the major earthquake on March 11. The order for export also decreased by 3.4% to 2.241 million tonnes due to weak demand in Asia.

Japanese carbon steel domestic order decreased by 19.0% to 625,000 tonnes for automobile in March from a year earlier due to car output suspension after the major earthquake. The order decreased by 5.4% to 138,000 tonnes for industrial machinery and by 6.5% to 141,000 tonnes for electrical equipment.

The domestic steel order decreased by 7.3% to 1.72 million tonnes for manufacturing in March from a year earlier. The domestic order decreased by 2.5% to 972,000 tonnes for construction.

Japanese carbon steel order increased by 5.8% to 71.262 million tonnes in fiscal 2010 ended March 2011 from fiscal 2009. The order was slightly less than 90% of 80.408 million tonnes in fiscal 2007 before Lehman Shock. The domestic steel order increased by 8.8% to 44.259 million tonnes. The order for export increased by 1.3% to 27.003 million tonnes, which renewed former record in fiscal 1977.

The carbon steel domestic order increased by 8.5% to 21.938 million tonnes for manufacturing in fiscal 2010 from fiscal 2009. The order increased by 3.3% to 10.172 million tonnes for construction. Subsidy for eco-friendly car and home electronics purchase lifted the steel order for manufacturing. However, due to public investment reduction, the order for construction showed small recovery after the order hit the 39 years low at less than 10 million tonnes in fiscal 2009.