Japanese iron and steel output up 3.2% in Feb over Jan

Tuesday, 17 April 2012 12:16:30 (GMT+2)

In February this year, Japan's seasonally adjusted industrial production decreased 1.6 percent from the previous month, while it indicated a decrease of 1.5 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 February the Japanese iron and steel production index decreased 1.6 percent year on year, while Japan's seasonally adjusted iron and steel production index increased 3.2 percent in February compared to January. Meanwhile, in February Japanese producers' iron and steel shipments rose by 1.9 percent and iron and steel inventories were up by 1.4 percent, both compared to the previous month.

In February, the seasonally adjusted crude steel production index including semi-finished steel in Japan increased by 5.2 percent compared to the previous month and was down by three percent on year-on-year basis. Producers' crude steel shipments in February were down by 10.4 percent compared to the previous month and down 11 percent compared to the same month last year.