Japan Special Steel Order Receipt Improves in June

Japanese special steel makers’ order receipt decreased by 39.6% to 1.036 million tonnes in June from a year earlier, according to Japan Iron and Steel Federation. The order reached 1 million tonnes for the first time in 7 months and increased by 22.5% from May, which represented increases for 3 months in a row. The domestic demand improved gradually due to better automobile operations while the export demand recovers.

The order for export decreased by 26.6% to 365,000 tonnes in June from a year earlier while the order for domestic market decreased by 44.9% to 671,000 tonnes. The order increased by 40.3% for export and by 22.5% for domestic market from May, both of which increased for 3 months in a row.

The order from automobile industry decreased by 33.9% to 254,000 tonnes in June from a year earlier. However, the order increased by 18.5% from May, which increased for 4 months in a row. The order improved for cold finished bar and bearing and spring, which is used mainly for automobile.

Japanese finished car production is expected to increase to around 2.1 million units in July-September compared with 1.71 million units in April-June and 1.61 million units in January-March. The higher automobile production contributes to special steel demand.

The special steel order decreased by 48.5% to 2.627 million tonnes in April-June from same period of 2008. However, the order increased by 30% from 2.02 million tonnes in January-March.