Japan Common Steel Orders Increase by 3.7% in November

Order reception volume at Japanese steel makers for common steel products increased by 3.7% to 6.876 million tonnes in November 2007 from a year ago, announced Japan Iron & Steel Federation on Tuesday. Orders decreased by 0.3% to 4.78 million tonnes for domestic market while increased by 16.2% to 1.961 million tonnes for export. Orders decreased for domestic building construction market by the revision of Japanese standard law.Orders decreased by 2.1% to 626,000 tonnes for domestic building construction in November from a year earlier, while increased by 4% to 286,000 tonnes for domestic civil engineering. On the other hand, orders decreased by 9.5% to 1.298 million tonnes for domestic wholesalers, about 70% of which seems for construction markets.Orders increased by 8.2% to 2.086 million tonnes for domestic manufacturing industries, and by 9.8% to 1.065 million tonnes for automobiles, by 10.0% to 423,000 tonnes for shipbuilding and by 4.1% to 220,000 tonnes for industrial machines.