According to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Association (JISF), steel product orders, including specialty steels, booked by domestic steel consuming sectors in Japan in April this year amounted to 7.6 million metric tons, decreasing by 1.5 percent compared to March and down 1.9 percent year on year.
In April, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector increased by 6.8 percent year on year, amounting to 1 million mt, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, came to 1 million metric tons, falling by 2.8 percent as compared to the same month last year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 299,431 metric tons of ordinary steel products in April, down 21.9 percent as compared to the same month of 2012.