Japan industrial production dropped -2.1% mom in February, worse than expectation of -1.3% mom. In addition to pandemic restrictions, production was disrupted by the 7.3-earthquake off the coast of eastern Japan on February 13.
Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expected output to drop another -1.9% mom in March, followed by 9.3% mom rebound in April. But the actual figure could be worse as the impact of the March 19 fire at a Renesas Electronics chip-making plant was not reflected in the forecasts yet.
