According to the data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Japan's automobile production in April 2009 amounted to 485,405 units, decreasing by 47.1 percent or 432,546 units year on year. April is the seventh consecutive month that a year-on-year decrease has been recorded in the figures in question. Meanwhile, domestic sales in April 2009 stood at 284,035 vehicles, down 23.0 percent as compared with the same month of the previous year, while exports decreased by 35.3 percent compared to April 2008.
In early April, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that steel consumption by the Japanese automotive industry is expected to rise by 10.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009 as compared with the first quarter. The ministry added that the country's 12 major automakers' consumption of ordinary steel products would increase by 182,000 metric tons in Q2 2009.
According to the statistics provided by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, ordinary steel booked by the automotive industry in the first quarter of 2009 was 1,039,070 metric tons, down 33.42 percent or 2,069,623 metric tons compared to the first quarter of the previous year. At the same time, specialty steel booked by Japan's automakers in the first quarter of the current year amounted to 356,049 metric tons, down 30.85 percent or 798,061 metric tons year on year.