Japan's steel output at 5-month low

Japan’s steel output at 5-month low

Japan's crude steel production fell for the first time in five months during July due to the decline in demand for lower-grade products. The Japanese Iron and Steel Federation disclosed that the country's crude steel production fell 1.2 percent year on year to 9.43 million metric tons in July. July production also represents a month-on-month decrease of 0.2 percent. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Company and other electric-furnace steelmakers reduced production as imports of H-beams and lower-grade hot rolled coil from China caused a decline in prices. For the January-July 2005 period, crude steel output reached 66.16 million metric tons, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier.