By Yuka Obayashi and Kantaro Komiya
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s crude steel output is expected to fall for a fourth consecutive quarter in the last three months of the year, due to a slow pick-up in auto production amid a shortage of chips, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said on Friday.
METI forecast a 6.8% fall to 22.55 million tonnes in the October-December period from 24.20 million tonnes a year earlier, as parts-supply disruptions continue to affect Japanese automakers’ global production.
That would be up 0.5% increase from 22.44 million tonnes in the July-September quarter.
“Automobile production is expected to recover gradually, but there is also a downside risk since the shortage of semiconductors has not been completely eliminated,” Daisuke Matsuno, director of the metal industries division at METI, told a news conference.
Carmakers such as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co have lowered their output targets for October as they battle with persistent supply chain and logistical problems.
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Demand for steel products, including those for export, is forecast to decline 3.8% to 20.65 million tonnes from a year earlier, the ministry said, citing an industry survey.
Exports are forecast to fall 10.8% to 6.20 million tonnes.
“The recent yen fall is supposed to raise competitiveness of Japanese steel when they are exported, but demand in Asia is sluggish amid a slowdown in the global economy, affected by rising interest rates,” Matsuno said.
The yen has fallen to 32-year lows this week as the Bank of Japan has kept policy super-loose while many of its global peers have aggressively raised interest rates to combat surging inflation.
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and William Mallard)