Japan Special Steel Order Hits First Increases in 3 Months

Japanese special steel order increased by 1.2% to 1.56 million tonnes in June from a year earlier, which increased for the first time in 3 months, according to Japan Iron and Steel Federation. The order increased by 26.1% from May. The order started recovering from domestic and offshore market while the order represented year-on-year decrease for 2 months in a row through May due to the major earthquake.

The domestic special steel order decreased by 0.7% to 939,000 tonnes in June from a year earlier while the export order increased by 17.3% to 621,000 tonnes. The export order rebounded after the order marked 30% decrease in May.

The domestic special steel order decreased by 14.6% to 271,000 tonnes in June from a year earlier while the order increased by 39.7% from May.

Japanese carbon steel order receipt decreased by 0.4% to 5.65 million tonnes in June from a year earlier, which decreased for 4 months in a row. The order was almost same as year earlier level despite the slow domestic order when the export rebounded from May. The domestic order decreased by 7.6% to 3.349 million tonnes while the export order increased by 12.1% to 2.3 million tonnes. The domestic order increased by 39.4% to 616,000 tonnes for automobile from May.