Global Economic Analysis and News of Note
- Bloomberg Business last week highlighted the continued decline in demand for steel in China. Zhu Jimin, deputy head of the China Iron and Steel Association, said, “China’s steel demand evaporated at unprecedented speed as the nation’s economic growth slowed. As demand quickly contracted, steel mills are lowering prices in competition to get contracts.” According to Bloomberg, medium- and large-sized mills in China lost $4.4 billion in between September 2014 and September 2015. Crude steel output fell 2.1 percent in the first nine months of 2015 while exports rose 27 percent.
- Industrial production in Japan expanded one percent in September after falling in July and August. Increased production of electronic devices and chemical products fueled the positive reading. According to Agence-France Presse, “Yusuke Shimoda, economist at Japan Research Institute, cautioned that the latest figures were not enough to point to a recovery in the Japanese economy, which has been teetering on the edge of recession.”