Production of motor vehicles fell 12.4% m/m in September for the second straight month, following a decline of 1.3% in August, underscoring the gloomy outlook for automobile production due to the shortage of semiconductors.
Industrial production rose 5.9% q/q in the third quarter for the first rise in two quarters following a drop of 2.7% in the second quarter.
Based on its survey of manufacturers, METI projected that industrial production would fall 0.4% on month in October (revised down from a forecast of 3.2 % growth last month) and rise 0.8% in November.
Adjusting the upward bias in output plans, METI forecast production would fall 3.7% on month in October. Based on this assumption, and if December output were flat, production would fall 3.1% q/q in the December quarter, the first drop in two quarters following an increase of 5.9% in Q3.
The METI left its assessment unchanged, saying that industrial production is recovering moderately.