According to the statistics released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation on Monday, May 18, orders for ordinary steel products from consumers declined by 17.6 percent on a volume basis to 66.25 million mt in Japanese financial year 2008, the biggest annual drop to date.
The drop in question is registered as the first decline in three years.
Monthly orders for ordinary steel products declined for an eighth straight month in March, plunging by 43.7 percent to 3.907 million mt from the same month of 2008 to post the largest year-on-year decline to date. On the other hand, March orders were down by only 1,000 mt compared with February orders of 3.908 million mt.