TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's crude steel production in December plunged 27.9 percent from a year earlier to 7.48 million tons, posting the steepest fall since comparable data became available in January 1949, an industry body said Wednesday.
The nation's steel output shrank for the third consecutive month against the backdrop of declining demand for automobiles amid the worsening economy, said the Japan Iron and Steel Federation.
Japanese steelmakers are stepping up production cuts as steel demand for housing and electric products is also on the decrease, the federation said.
For the whole of 2008, steel product fell 1.2 percent from the previous year to 118.74 million tons for the first drop in three years.