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 2011 amounted to 6.9 million metric tons, decreasing by four percent compared to the previous month and down nine percent compared to November 2010.
In November 2011, ordinary steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector increased by one percent month on month to 881,875 metric tons - down two percent year on year, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector, including specialty steel, reached 1.14 million metric tons, falling by 11 percent as compared to October and up five percent year on year. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 380,730 metric tons of ordinary steel products in November, declining by 13.5 percent month on month and down 14.4 percent as compared to the same month of 2010.