TOKYO: Japan’s crude steel output slumped 5.8 percent in August from a year earlier to 8.8 million tonnes, marking a 12th straight monthly fall, as weak demand for cars and high stockpiles prompted steelmakers to cut production. The decline follows a recent run of soft economic indicators, adding to pressure on policymakers to offer fresh stimulus to rev-up growth in the world’s third-largest economy.
Japanese manufacturers’ confidence slumped the most in a year in September, to an eight-month low, and is forecast to worsen further as concerns of a China-led global economic slowdown grow, a Reuters poll showed.
Japan’s monthly crude steel production has been on a downtrend since late last year, weighed down by slack demand for cars and houses that has helped cause a rise in stockpiles of steel products.
The August output marked the lowest for the month since 2009 when a global financial crisis battered demand, a researcher at the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said. Production, which is not seasonally-adjusted, slid 0.5 percent from July. “Steel demand from automakers has not picked up while infrastructure demand has remained dull,” the researcher said.
