Japan Steel Order Receipt Rises by 2% in February

Japanese steel makers’ order receipt for carbon steel products increased by 2.1% to 6.013 million tonnes in February from the previous month, announced by Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Tuesday. The orders increased by 1.9% to 3.574 million tonnes from domestic buyers and by 2.5% to 2.439 million tonnes from offshore buyers.

The orders increased to 884,000 tonnes by 10.4% for building construction, which recovered to the level almost as much as in November 2008. However, in February, speculative orders seemed to be included due to an anticipation of a rise by cost up of raw materials. The orders decreased by 2.8% to 1.785 million tonnes from manufacturing machinery.

By year-to-year comparison, the total order receipt increased by 53.9%, increasing by 33.6% from domestic buyers and by 97.9% from offshore buyers.