/www.bloomberg.com/ By Lily Nonomiya
Tokyo, March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's industrial production probably fell in February, the fifth drop in six months, as automakers such as Honda Motor Co. shifted production abroad.
Production fell a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent in February from January, according to the median of 13 forecasts in a Bloomberg News Survey. From a year ago, production probably rose 5.3 percent, the eighth straight gain.
Automakers such as Honda, Japan's second-biggest automaker and Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest, are shifting production overseas to save shipping and operating costs as they gain market share in the U.S. and Europe. February's decline comes after production rose an adjusted 1.5 percent in January.
``February's numbers are going to adjust the excessive gain we saw in January,'' said Naoki Murakami, an economist at BNP Paribas Securities Japan Ltd. Otherwise ``production is largely unchanged, with demand in the U.S. holding up for now.''
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will release the industrial production report Monday at 8:50 a.m. Tokyo time.
The following table shows economists' estimates for the change in industrial production in February. Month on Month forecasts are seasonally adjusted from January.