According to Japanese media reports, following the Japan Ironand Steel Federation, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan onceagain made a pessimistic forecast of Japan's crude steel output in fiscal 2019.According to forecasts, in the 2019 fiscal year (April 2019 to March 2020),Japan's crude steel output will reach 99.06 million tons, a decrease of 3.7%over the previous fiscal year. This is not only the decline in Japanese crudesteel production for three consecutive years since fiscal 2017, but also thefirst time that Japanese crude steel output has fallen below 100 million tonssince the world financial crisis in 2008.