In December 2011, Japan's seasonally adjusted industrial production increased 3.8 percent from the previous month, showing the third month-on-month increase in the past four months, while it indicated a decrease of 4.3 percent compared to the same month last year.
According to the revised Indices of Industrial Production report published by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in 2011 Japanese iron and steel production decreased 2.9 percent year on year, following a year-on-year increase of 29.4 percent recorded in 2010.
Meanwhile, in the last month of 2011 Japan's iron and steel production decreased by 0.8 percent as compared to the previous month, while producers' iron and steel shipments were up by 4.1 percent and iron and steel inventories were down by three percent, all compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the country's iron and steel production in December witnessed a decrease of 7.7 percent.
In December, seasonally adjusted crude steel production in Japan decreased by 0.9 percent compared to the previous month and was down by 8.6 on year-on-year basis. Producers' crude steel shipments in December were down by 8.8 percent month on month and by 17.9 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.