In February this year, Japan's industrial production decreased by 2.3 percent from January and rose by 6.9 percent from February 2013, according to the preliminary indices of the Industrial Production report published by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
In February of the current year, Japanese iron and steel production increased by 3.5 percent year on year, while Japan's seasonally adjusted iron and steel production decreased by 3.7 percent month on month. Meanwhile, in the given month Japanese producers' iron and steel shipments decreased by 1.3 percent and iron and steel inventories were down by 3.5 percent, both compared to January.
On the other hand, according to the ministry's preliminary Current Survey of Production report, in February this year Japan produced 6.22 million mt of pig iron, down two percent, 8.45 million mt of crude steel, up 1.5 percent, and 8.22 million mt of semi-finished steel, up 1.1 percent, all compared to February 2013.
According to the ministry's Survey of Production Forecast in Manufacturing, Japanese industrial production is expected to increase by 0.9 percent in March and decrease by 0.6 percent in April, both month on month. Meanwhile, Japanese iron and steel production is expected to increase by 0.1 percent in March and by 3.4 percent in April, both month on month.