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 December 2009 amounted to 7.67 million metric tons, increasing by 10.77 percent compared to November and up 46.64 percent year on year, reflecting the base effect.
In December, steel product orders in Japan, including specialty steels, booked by the domestic construction sector increased by 1.31 percent compared to November, to 808,073 metric tons, while there was a year-on-year decrease of 8.4 percent. Meanwhile, steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector in December reached 1.15 million metric tons, up 3.68 percent compared to November and up 37.7 percent year on year. Finally, Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 533,376 metric tons of steel products during the month in question, up 24.11 percent month on month and increasing by 1.27 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, in 2009, steel product orders, including specialty steels, booked by domestic steel consuming sectors in Japan amounted to 73.54 million metric tons, declining by 21.64 percent.
