Japanese iron and steel output up six percent in March

In March this year, Japan's seasonally adjusted industrial production increased 1.3 percent from the previous month, while the original index indicated an increase of 14.2 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 March the Japanese iron and steel production index increased six percent year on year, while Japan's seasonally adjusted iron and steel production index increased 1.8 percent in March compared to February. Meanwhile, in March Japanese producers' iron and steel shipments rose by 4.5 percent and iron and steel inventories were up by 2.1 percent, both compared to the previous month.
 
In March, the seasonally adjusted crude steel production index including semi-finished steel in Japan increased by 1.3 percent compared to the previous month and was up by 3.3 percent on year-on-year basis. Producers' crude steel shipments in March were up by 8.4 percent compared to the previous month and down 3.4 percent compared to the same month last year.