Japanese industrial production rose a stronger-than-expected seasonally adjusted 1.9 per cent in July from the previous month, up for the fifth straight month, on robust output in the auto and steel industries, Tokyo said today.
The index of output at mines and factories stood at 82.4 against the base of 100 for 2005, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report.
The ministry maintained its basic assessment of the country's industrial output, saying, "Developments for a recovery can be seen."
The auto sector expanded production 6.9 per cent, helped by such products as passenger vehicles for export to the US and European markets, subcompact passenger cars for the domestic market, and trucks for other Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
Steelmakers saw production rise 6.5 per cent with the robustness of steel products for the use by Chinese carmakers.
The index of industrial shipments gained 2.3 per cent to 83.6 while that of industrial inventories was down 0.2 per cent to 95.1.
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