According to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Association, steel product orders, including specialty steels, booked by domestic steel consuming sectors in Japan in July this year amounted to 4.53 million metric tons, decreasing by 2.4 percent compared to June this year and down 5.5 percent year on year.
In July this year, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector decreased by 2.3 percent month on month to 760,885 metric tons - down 0.5 percent year on year, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, totaled 1.11 million metric tons, falling by 6.2 percent as compared to July last year and down 25 percent compared to June this year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 422,807 metric tons of ordinary steel products in July, increasing by 2.3 percent month on month and down 11 percent as compared to the same month of 2010.