In the January-April period of the current year, China’s crude steel output amounted to 261.42 million mt, down 2.3 percent year on year, as announced by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The growth rate in question was one percentage point lower than that recorded in the same period last year.
In the January-April this year, China’s overall outputs of metallurgical coke and ferroalloys amounted to 138.87 million mt and 11.16 million mt, down 7.6 percent and increasing by 1.7 percent respectively, both on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, in the given period China’s finished steel imports and exports totaled 4.23 million mt and 36.90 million mt, down 4.6 percent and up 7.6 percent on year-on-year basis, respectively.
As also indicated by the NDRC, in April this year China's average composite steel price index issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) was at 78.42 points, up 11.29 points month on month and rising by 4.43 points year on year. In particular, in April of the current year the average prices of 6.5 mm high-speed wire rod, 20 mm common medium plate and 1.0 mm cold rolled coil (CRC) were respectively RMB 2,855/mt ($435.2/mt), RMB 2,853/mt ($434.9/mt) and RMB 3,543/mt ($540.1/mt), up RMB 420/mt ($64.0/mt), RMB 358/mt ($54.6/mt) and RMB 417/mt ($63.6/mt) month on month, while indicating increases of 11.2 percent, 10.6 percent and 6.3 percent year on year, respectively.