According to the data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Association, in June this year ordinary steel product orders booked by domestic steel consuming sectors in Japan amounted to 5.74 million metric tons, decreasing by 0.8 percent year on year and up 10 percent compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, domestic specialty steel orders in June this year increased 12 percent month on month and decreased seven percent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, totaling 939,305 metric tons.
In June this year, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector decreased by seven percent month on month to 778,586 metric tons, but remained stable as compared to 2010 June levels, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, reached 887,353 metric tons, rising by 39 percent as compared to May this year and were down 20 percent year on year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 413,217 metric tons of ordinary steel products in June, increasing by one percent month on month and down 14 percent as compared to the same month of 2010.