According to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), Japan's crude steel output totaled around 7.35 million tons in October this year, falling by 10.6% compared to the year-ago level, due to a slowdown in demand for manufacturing-used steel.

Among them, 5.3 million tons were made by blast furnaces, a year-on-year decrease of 11.8%; 2.05 million tons were by electric arc furnaces, a year-on-year drop of 7.5%.

Japan’s domestic steel demand remained sluggish due to a bleak economic outlook, so some major Japanese steel mills, such as Nippon Steel and JFE Steel, have reduced their planned production.