Japan’s crude steel output keeps sliding
Japan's crude steel production fell 0.4 percent year on year in September. The Japanese Iron and Steel Federation disclosed that the country's crude steel production amounted to 9.17 million metric tons in September. September production also represents a month-on-month decrease of 0.7 percent. For the January-September 2005 period, crude steel output reached 84.56 million metric tons, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier.