JAPAN DATA: Domestic crude steel production in August totaled 8.908
million tons, up 0.1% on year, posting the first y/y gain in six months,
data released by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation showed. It followed
-1.2% in July, -5.0% in June, -7.0% in May, -6.3% in April, -2.7% in
March and +5.7% in February. Economists often use the data in
forecasting industrial output, whose August figures are due out on Sept.
30. 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.