JFE Steel to Cut Steel Output By 800,000 Tons in Jan.-March

Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)–JFE Holdings Inc. Vice President Toshikuni Yamazaki said Monday that the company’s steelmaking unit, JFE Steel Corp., will slash steel production in January-March 2006 by 800,000 tons from its initial output plan.

JFE Steel will cut production of general-purpose steel products for export by 500,000 tons and that of thin steel sheet for the domestic market by 300,000 tons.

The company has decided to slash production of general-purpose products by 500,000 tons for October-December.

For the October-March second half of fiscal 2005, its production cuts will total 1.3 million tons.

JFE Steel’s crude steel output in the second half will come to 13.3 million tons, down from 13.59 million tons in the April- September first half, while the JFE group’s consolidated output in the second half will total 14.9 million tons, down from 15.37 million tons, Yamazaki also said.

For the full year, JFE Steel’s crude steel output will come to 26.89 million tons, down 2.7 pct from the previous year, while the group’s output will total 30.27 million tons, down 3.2 pct, he said.END