Not a good sign

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Japan's crude steel output tumbles

record 40.7% in 1st half of 2009+
Jul 21 02:40 AM US/Eastern
2009+ (AP) - TOKYO, July 21 (Kyodo)

Japan's crude steel production in the January-June period plunged 40.7 percent from a year earlier to 36.69 million tons due mainly to slumping demand from automakers amid the global economic downturn, marking the sharpest ever fall for a half year, an industry body said Tuesday.
The decline was the sharpest on a half-year basis since the Japan Iron and Steel Federation initiated the statistics in 1948.
The half-year output was the lowest in 41 years. It declined for the second straight six-month period.
Crude steel output in June alone fell 33.6 percent from a year before to 6.89 million tons for the ninth consecutive month of decline. From the previous month, however, the June output scored a 6.3 percent increase.