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 January this year amounted to 7.4 million metric tons, decreasing by two percent compared to the previous month of December and down eight percent year on year.
In January this year, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector decreased by seven percent month on month to 848,357 metric tons - down three percent year on year, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, totaled 1.16 million metric tons, falling by three percent as compared to December and up two percent year on year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 321,186 metric tons of ordinary steel products in January, falling by 20 percent month on month and down 25 percent as compared to the same month of 2011.