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 February this year amounted to 7.54 million metric tons, increasing by two percent compared to the previous month and remaining practically stable with a slight increase of just 0.2 percent year on year.
In February this year, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector increased by nine percent month on month to 924,330 metric tons - up six percent year on year, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, totaled 1.15 million metric tons, falling by one percent as compared to January and up nine percent year on year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 394,892 metric tons of ordinary steel products in February, rising by 23 percent month on month and down 9.4 percent as compared to the same month of 2011.