1.   Australian coal producers and Japanese steelmakers are divided over expectations of Japanese steel output for next year.

2.   But representatives of Japanese steel makers, who got no exemptions, say the grouping was unfair because it helped some nations.

3.   He cited as an example the surge this year in imports of Japanese steel, which has dismayed the U.S. steel industry and unions.

4.   In other words, the president did not bring up cut-rate Japanese steel flooding the U.S. market.

5.   In the morning Clinton suggested that a surge in exports to the United States of certain types of Japanese steel might stem from illegal trade practices.

6.   It also makes Japanese steel less expensive overseas.

7.   It raised the cost of raw materials, yet also helped them by increasing the price of imports and making Japanese steel less expensive overseas.

8.   Japanese steel officials peppered Clinton administration offices this week with statements disputing claims of steel dumping.

9.   Lill said the reduced contract volume reflected the lower ration of hard coking coals being used by the Japanese steel mills in blast furnaces.

10.   Many Japanese steel producers have been forced to cut prices of steel exported to China, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.