Reuters reports that Japan Iron and Steel Federation said that Japan's crude steel output rose 42.2% in May from a year earlier, climbing for a third consecutive month as industry demand picked up from a coronavirus-related slump.

Output, which is not seasonally adjusted, increased to 8.42 million tonnes in the world's No.3 steel producer, up 7.7% from April.

Steel output in May last year plunged 31.7% from a year earlier as the pandemic collapsed demand, forcing steelmakers to suspend some of their blast furnaces.

The 44% jump marks the biggest year-on-year increase since May 2010 when the local economy was recovering from the global financial crisis in 2009, a researcher at the federation said.