World’s largest Steel maker China’s crude steel output hit 350.64 million tons in the first six months of this year, up by 9.6 percent.According to National Development and Reform Commission, the growth rate was 11.5 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year.
The commission said that the country''s output of steel products rose 12.8% year on year to 437.41 million metric tons in the first half, slowing from a 26.1% increase in the corresponding period of last year.
During the period from January to June, China exported 24.33 million metric tons of steel products, up 3.2% year on year, and imported 8.03 million metric tons of steel products, down 4.8% year on year.
The country saw its output of coke increase 11.7% year on year to 210.38 million metric tons during the period, but the growth rate was 9.7 percentage points lower than that in the corresponding period of last year. The country''s coke exports surged 75.2% year on year to 2.45 million metric tons during the period.
China''s output of ferrous alloys jumped 21.7% year on year to 14.01 million metric tons.
In the month of June, China''s Steel prices experienced slight drops. The prices of 20-mm steel sheets and 1-mm cold-rolled coils were RMB 4,980 per metric ton and RMB 5,520 per metric ton, down 1.6% and 2.1% month on month, but up 13.7% and 1.9% year on year, respectively.
In the first five months, the steel industry earned RMB 120.6 billion in profit, up 14.4% year on year. The profit of the ferrous metal mining and dressing sector surged 55.9% year on year to RMB 32.46 billion during the period, and that of the ferrous metal smelting and pressing sector dropped 1.1% year on year to RMB 64.02 billion.