In the January-May period this year, China’s outputs of pig iron, crude steel and finished steel totaled 361.13 million mt, 438.61 million mt and 574.05 million mt, decreasing by 3.7 percent, decreasing by 1.4 percent, and increasing by 2.9 percent year on year, respectively, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 17. The crude steel production decline was slower than the 3 percent decrease in January-April.
In May alone, China’s output of pig iron, crude steel and finished steel totaled 76.13 million mt, 92.86 million mt and 122.7 million mt, decreasing by 1.2 percent, increasing by 2.7 percent and 3.4 percent year on year. Compared to April, crude steel production in China in May rose by 8.0 percent.
In early June (June 1-10) this year, the average aggregate daily crude steel output of large and medium-sized steel enterprises in China - all CISA members - totaled 2.25 million mt, up 3.3 percent compared to late May (May 21-31). Since it is in the traditional offseason now, the steel demand will slacken, thereby the steel prices may edge down in June.