According to statistics released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (Meti), Japans crude steel output is expected to reach 27.83 million tons in July-September, down slightly by 1% from a quarter ago and falling by 2% year on year.
Meti noted that the dip in crude steel output was caused by fact that electric furnace producers postponed operations for annual maintenance during summer.
Besides, Meti predicted that the country's production of finished steel products would be at 24.3 million tons in the given period of time, increasing by 4% year on year.