According to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Association, ordinary steel product orders booked by domestic steel consuming sectors in Japan in March this year amounted to 3.82 million metric tons, increasing slightly by 0.5 percent compared to February and down 3.5 percent year on year. In the given month, export orders totaled 2.24 million metric tons, up by only 0.5 percent month on month and down 3.4 percent year on year.
In March, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the construction sector rose by 11.7 percent compared to February, to 972,000 metric tons, while a year-on-year decrease of 2.5 percent was witnessed. Meanwhile, steel product orders booked by the automotive sector in March reached 625,000 metric tons, down 16.6 percent compared to February and down 19.9 percent year on year, due to the major earthquake that hit Japan on March 11. Finally, the shipbuilding industry booked 489,737 metric tons of steel products during the month in question, up 12.1 percent month on month and increasing by 8.9 percent year on year.