JAPAN DATA: Domestic crude steel production in September totaled
8.882 million tons, down 3.8% on year, posting the first y/y fall in two
months, data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation showed. It
followed +0.1% in August, -0.8% in July and -5.0% in June. An
association official attributed the September drop to the strong yen.
Economists often use the data in forecasting industrial output, whose
September figures are due out on Oct. 28. Steel production accounts for
around 6% of Japan’s overall manufacturing and mining production. The
federation has projected domestic crude steel output will total 108
million tons in fiscal 2011, down from 110.8 tons in the previous year.