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 January of the current year amounted to 7.43 million metric tons, decreasing by 7.14 percent compared to December and remaining unchanged from January 2013.
In January of the current year, steel product orders in Japan booked by the domestic construction sector decreased by 2.47 percent to 1.03 million mt, while steel product orders booked by the Japanese automotive sector came to 1.12 million metric tons, increasing by 10.79 percent, both including special steel and on year-on-year basis. Japan's shipbuilding industry booked 347,259 metric tons of steel products in January this year, up 23.45 percent compared to January 2013.