SteelGuruFinancialReview reported that
the sizeable decline predicted for China’s crude steel production this year has
failed to eventuate, with some even forecasting output could rise marginally.
The unexpected change is explained by strong Chinese exports.
At the start of the year, MySteel, was predicting a decline in crude steel
production of 4 per cent to around 770 million tonnes.But in recent weeks it
has revised this forecast to a decline of just 0.5 per cent, which would leave
steel production basically flat at around 800 million tonnes this year.
MySteel’s chief information officer Xu Xiangchun said “The unexpectedly strong
production so far this year is mainly due to Chinese steel exports.”
Mr Xu said domestic demand had also been better than expected. He attributed this
to a pick-up in housing construction, helped by easier access to credit for
developers.
Overall crude steel production was down by 0.5 per cent to 470 million tonnes
over the first seven months of the year. Over the first seven months of the
year, China exported 67.4 million tonnes of steel, up 8.5 per cent from the
same period last year.
China’s has more than 1.1 billion tonnes of steel making capacity, compared
with annual production of around 800 million tonnes.
Source : FINANCIALREVIEW