According to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, despite rising by 4.8 percent from February, Japan's crude steel output in March 2009 fell by 46.7 percent year on year to 5.74 million mt, as global demand for cars and electronics crumbled, while a strong yen made Japanese steelmakers' exports less competitive overseas.
The year-on-year decline in output in March was the biggest since the industry body started compiling data in January 1949.
Meanwhile, the country's crude steel output in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2009 amounted to 105.5 million mt, down by 13.2 percent compared to the previous year.
Major Japanese steel companies including Nippon Steel Corporation and JFE Holdings Inc. have cut output as decreasing sales and piled up inventories forced big steel users such as Toyota Motor Corporation and other automakers to cut production.
Japan's trade and industry ministry forecasts that Japanese crude steel output in the April-June quarter this year will stay flat from the previous three months before recovering in the July-September quarter, underscoring the difficulties domestic steel mills are experiencing.