Japan Common Steel Orders Decrease by 19.5% in June

Order receipt volume at Japanese steel makers for common steel products decreased by 19.5% to 5.354 million tonnes in June from a year ago, which decreased for 11 consecutive months, announced Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Monday. The order receipt increased by 16.8% in June from May, which increased for 3 consecutive months when steel export increased and domestic demand mainly from automobiles recovered. The order receipt exceeded 5 million tonnes for the first time in 8 months.

The order receipt increased by 16.8% to 2.258 million tonnes for export in June from a year earlier, which increased for the first time in 11 months and hit the high level since March 1985.

The order receipt decreased to 3.096 million tonnes by 34.4% for domestic market in June from a year earlier while increased by 10.2% in June from May and exceeded 3 million tonnes for the first time in 6 months.

The order receipt decreased by 31.8% to 1.506 million tonnes for domestic manufacturing industries in July from a year earlier, up by 6.2% to 981,000 tonnes for automobiles, by 9.2% to 447,000 tonnes for shipbuilding and by 2.9% to 209,000 tonnes for industrial machines. The order receipt increased for automobile from bottom while expanded decreased rate for appliance and decreased by over 70% for industrial machine for 5 consecutive months.

The order receipt increased mainly for sheets such as hot rolled coil, cold rolled sheet or zinc coated sheet in June from a year earlier.

The order receipt decreased by 28.7% to 14.485 million tonnes for April-June from the same period of 2008.