TOKYO, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's industrial output dropped in October from a month earlier, owing to a powerful typhoon pummeling the country and severely disrupting factory operations and supply chains, the government said in a report on Friday.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, factory output in the recording period fell 4.2 percent from a month earlier, marking the biggest decline in almost two years.
As a result, the ministry lowered its assessment of the country's industrial output to "having weakened" from its previous view of being "in a weak tone recently."
The ministry's preliminary figures showed that the seasonally adjusted index of production at factories and mines stood at 98.9 against the 2015 base of 100, with the 4.2 percent slide in the recording period, the steepest since January 2018, coming on the heels of a revised 1.7 percent rise booked in September.
A ministry official was quoted as saying that Typhoon Hagibis, which battered wide swathes of the country killing at least 90 people and causing severe damage and disruption to businesses and infrastructure, affected industrial output as factories could not receive shipments of components due to the typhoon wreaking havoc on supply chains.
The ministry said, meanwhile, the index of industrial shipments in October declined 4.3 percent to 98.3, while the index of inventories booked a 1.2 percent increase to 104.1.
Looking ahead, manufactures now expect output to fall 1.5 percent in November and increase 1.1 percent in December, based on the ministry's forward looking survey.
