Japan’s industrial material producers cut back

Japan’s industrial material producers are reducing output in response to production cuts by automakers, electronics firms and other manufacturers of end products. Nippon Paper Industries Co., a unit of Nippon Paper Group Inc., has recently begun cutting production by 20% at its main plant in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, and was forced to suspend operations at a cutting-edge facility installed in 2007. It has been doubly hit by substantial drops in domestic shipments and exports, on which it relies for half of its output. JFE Steel Corp., meanwhile, announced a crude steel output cut of 1.5 million tons in the September 2008-March 2009 period. (November 25, 2008)