TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s factory production in June logged its sharpest fall since the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster, hit largely by drops in cars and industrial machines, official data showed Wednesday.

Production fell 3.3 percent month-on-month after a 0.7 percent rise in May, the trade and industry ministry said. It is the worst drop since March 2011, when production dived 16.5 percent with supply chains disrupted by the natural and nuclear disaster.

The June reading was also much worse than the market’s median forecast of a 1.2 percent drop.

“Industrial production has weakened,” the ministry said in a monthly statement, downgrading its verdict on production.

The ministry had said in its May report that industrial production “appears to be flat.”

Companies had stepped up production ahead of an April 1 sales tax rise ― Japan’s first in 17 years ― as shoppers made a last-minute dash to buy staples and big-ticket items such as cars and refrigerators.