Japan March crude steel output falls 47 pct yr/yr

TOKYO, April 20 (Reuters) - Japan's crude steel output in March fell a record 46.7 percent from a year earlier to 5.74 million tonnes, dropping for the sixth straight month, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said on Monday.

The year-on-year percentage decline in monthly output was the biggest since January 1949, the industry group said.

Japan's crude steel output in the 2008/09 financial year, ended March 31, came to 105.5 million tonnes, down 13.2 percent from the previous year, the industry body said. It was the first decline in three years. (Reporting by Yuko Inoue)