Japan

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which are exporters of steel products, will have a huge impact on global steel demand and trade if it lasts for a long time, the head of a Japanese steel industry group said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "Even before the Ukraine crisis, we had faced three risk factors to dent steel demand -- China's slowdown, global chip shortage and soaring energy and natural resources prices," Japan Iron and Steel Federation Chairman Eiji Hashimoto told a news conference.

Japan will ban the export of high-end cars and other luxury goods to Russia in its latest response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the trade ministry said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The partial ban on Russia-bound auto items, which account for more than half of Japan's exports to Russia, came after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a commitment to place more sanctions on Russia at a Group of Seven summit last week.

Japan has frozen the assets of an additional 32 Russian and Belarusian officials and oligarchs following the invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The newly added sanctions target 20 Russians including deputy chiefs of staff for President Vladamir Putin's administration, deputy chairmen of the state parliament, the head of the Chechen Republic and executives of companies with close ties to the government such as Volga Group, Transneft and Wagner.

Japan's bank lending rose at the slowest increase in a decade in February as immediate pressure for corporates to borrow cash continued to ease amid a broader economic recovery from the pandemic slump, Reuters reported. While the central bank's massive money printing will likely keep funding conditions ultra-loose, the crisis in Ukraine could hurt restaurants and retailers still reeling from the COVID-19 curbs, some analysts say.

Japan’s factory output fell for a second straight month in January as supply shortages continued to hurt manufacturers, adding to concern that the economy could shrink this quarter as omicron restrictions weigh on activity and the Russian invasion of Ukraine clouds the outlook, Bloomberg News reported. Production slipped 1.3% from the previous month, with falls at automakers and iron and steel manufacturers making the biggest contributions to the drop and driving output below year-earlier levels, according to the industry ministry Monday. Economists had expected a decline of 0.7%.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and other lenders are in talks with KKR & Co.-owned parts supplier Marelli Holdings Co. to renegotiate debt and offer financing to keep it operational, Bloomberg News reported. The auto-parts company, created in 2019 when KKR merged its Calsonic Kansei and Magneti Marelli units, is seeking to file as soon as March for an alternative dispute resolution in Japan, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Marelli had at least 1.1 trillion yen ($9.5 billion) in total debt as of September.

The United States and Japan are set to announce a deal to grant Japanese steelmakers relief from Trump-era U.S. tariffs for a limited amount of steel imports, Reuters reported. Anonymous sources said that it will allow about 1.25 million metric tonnes into the United States duty-free, with volumes above that level subject to the 25% "Section 232" national security tariffs.

Japan's biggest lenders on Wednesday all sounded alarm about the risk the Omicron variant could have on their earnings, reviving concerns that a resurgent pandemic could trigger more bad loans, Reuters reported. It was a sobering assessment from Japan's three top banks - some of the world's biggest lenders by assets - and underscored how the latest coronavirus variant could put more downward pressure on an already fragile domestic economy. Top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.

Japan's factory output shrank for the first time in three months in December as a decline in machinery production outweighed a small rise in autos, casting a cloud over the strength of the economic recovery, Reuters reported. Retail sales posted their third straight month of year-on-year gains in December as low coronavirus cases encouraged shoppers. Record infections this month driven by the Omicron variant, however, are expected to have hit consumer sentiment.