In April this year,Japan's industrialproductionincreased four percent from the previous month, while output rose by 5.7 percent from April last year, according to the preliminary indices of the IndustrialProductionreport published byJapan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
On the other hand, in April the Japanese iron and steelproductionindex rose by 5.8 percent year on year, whileJapan's seasonally adjusted iron and steelproductionindex increased by 3.3 percent in April compared to March. Meanwhile, in April Japanese producers' iron and steel shipments increased by 1.6 percent and iron and steel inventories were up by 6.1 percent, both compared to the previous month.
According to the ministry's Survey ofProductionForecast inManufacturing, Japanese industrialproductionis expected to decrease by 2.5 percent in May and to rise by 1.8 percent in June, both month on month. Meanwhile, Japanese iron and steelproductionis expected to fall 3.8 percent in May and to grow by 1.7 percent in June, month on month.