[Ferro-Alloys.com]Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) plans to cut the forecast for the country’s fourth-quarter crude steel output by 600,000 tons from the previous forecast of 26.596 million tons.

In October, METI reduced its forecast for the country’s fourth-quarter production of crude steel and steel products by 160,000 tons and 150,000 tons respectively due to weak performance of automobile industry.

Moreover, METI cut the forecast for the country’s fourth-quarter output of crude steel and steel products by 330,000 tons and 550,000 tons in mid-November as the deteriorated relationship between China and Japan has affected the steel market severely.