Japanese steel production fell 0.8% in April

Japan Iron and Steel Federation JISF said Japan's steel production in April fell 0.8% from a year earlier to 8.65 million tonnes, down for the eighth straight month. JISF said: "Although the blast furnace problems have been resolved, many operators did not turn on the electric furnaces during the 10 day period \ starting at the end of April."

Electric furnace crude steel production fell 4.9%. Converter steel production, mainly from iron ore, increased 0.6%