Industrial demand for electricity fell by a fresh record of 26.4 percent to 18,038 million kwh in February as manufacturers curtailed production amid the economic downturn, an industry body said Thursday.
It is the third consecutive month that plunging power demand has set a new year-on-year record, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said in a preliminary report covering Japan's 10 regional electricity utilities.
Demand fell in all seven industrial sectors covered by the federation's survey, including iron and steel, which fell by 43.4 percent, the most of all sectors.