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 November 2012 amounted to 7.2 million metric tons, decreasing by one percent compared to October and up four percent year on year.
In November last year, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector increased by 3.2 percent month on month to 996,436 metric tons - up 13 percent year on year, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, amounted to 972,308 metric tons, falling by 2.8 percent as compared to the previous month and down 14.6 percent year on year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 280,829 metric tons of ordinary steel products in November, increasing four percent month on month and down 26.2 percent as compared to the same month of 2011.