Japan Common Steel Orders Increase by 8.3% in September

Order receipt volume at Japanese steel makers for common steel products increased by 8.3% to 5.838 million tonnes in September from August, announced by Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Tuesday. The volume rebounded after 2 months, which decreased in August due to seasonal factors.

Order receipt volume keeps recovery trend since June thanks to active export. By year-to-year comparison, the volume decreased by 6% in September. The figure reprsented single-digit year-to-year down for the first time in 12 months.

The orders increased by 6.6% to 3.632 million tonnes for domestic market in September from August and by 11.1% to 2.206 million tonnes for export. Compared with a year earlier, the orders decreased by 19.7% for domestic market while increased by 30.5% for export.

Compared with August, the orders increased by 6.7% to 1.759 million tonnes for manufacturing industry while decreased by 0.3% to 845,000 tonnes for building construction. The orders for automobile increased by 1.7% to 788,000 tonnes, while which was lower by 16.2% than a year earlier. The orders for container was 114,000 tonnes in September, up by 20% month-to-month and by 5.6% year-to-year.