Japan's crude steel output up slightly

Japan’s crude steel output up slightly

The Japanese Iron and Steel Federation disclosed that the country's crude steel production rose 0.4 percent year on year to 9.46 million metric tons in June. June production, however, represents a month-on-month decrease of 5.7 percent. In the January-June 2005 period, crude steel output reached 56.73 million metric tons, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, ordinary steel production fell 1.1 percent year on year to 7.36 million tons in June. However, specialty steel output rose 6.3 percent to 2.10 million tons.