In the January-June period of the current year, China’s outputs of pig iron, crude steel and finished steel amounted to 438.93 million mt, 526.88 million mt and 667.14 million mt, decreasing by 4.7 percent, 6.5 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, year on year, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Slowdown of demand due to the Covid-19 restrictions in spring and poor off-season consumption in June have weighed on steel production in China.
In June alone, China’s outputs of pig iron, crude steel and finished steel amounted to 76.88 million mt, 90.73 million mt and 118.42 million mt, up 0.5 percent, down 3.3 percent and 2.3 percent, year on year. On a monthly basis all figures posted decrease - by 4.5 percent, 6.1 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.