ABSTRACT
Japan 's steel industry, whieh reeorded the largest -ever crude-steel produc - tion of 119 million metrie tons in 1973, entered a slow-growth stage after the first oil erisis in Oetober 1973. As a result of lower demand in both the domestie and overseas (export) markets, crude-steel produetion hovered around 100 million metrie tons per year between 1975 and 1978 (Table 10.1). Afterward, produetion inereased slightly, but growth in quantity was no longer expected, as steel was being replaeed in produetion of eapital goods by other materials that were beeoming lighter, thinner, shorter, and smaller.
