Japan increases crude steel output in February

Japan's crude steel production increased 3.6 percent year on year to 9.2 million metric tons in February 2007, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) announced on Monday, March 19. Production of specialty steel used in motor vehicles and machinery grew 6.6 percent to 2.13 million metric tons in February. In addition, output of ordinary steel amounted to 7.07 million metric tons, up 2.8 percent year on year. For the first two months of 2007, Japanese crude steel production reached 19.3 million metric tons, up 5.1 percent year on year.