SteelOrbis Shanghai
Affected by the sharp slump in the markets and the halts and reductions of production by mills, China's production growth rates in July for pig iron, crude steel and finished steel saw a considerable drop compared with the same month last year and also compared with the first half of the current year.
Moreover, in July many Chinese mills conducted overhauling work, and so July production figures showed a big decrease month on month.
China's crude steel production in July totaled 44.8864 million mt, up 3.1507 million mt or 7.5 percent year on year. Average daily production during the month reached 1.4479 million mt, down 116,900 mt or 7.47 percent month on month and up 101,600 mt year on year. Meanwhile, crude steel production for the January-July period reached 308.292 million mt, up 26.3137 million mt or 9.3 percent year on year.
China's pig iron production in July totaled 41.9752 million mt, up 1.9536 million mt or 4.9 percent year on year. At the same time, total pig iron production in the January-July period reached 288.9423 million mt, up 20.5301 million mt or 7.6 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2007.
China's finished steel production for July totaled 51.0102 million mt, up 3.3406 million mt or seven percent year on year. On the other hand, national finished steel production from January to July inclusive reached 351.7973 million mt, up 36.834 million mt or 11.7 percent.
Taking imports and exports into consideration, the newly-added supply of crude steel to China's market in July totaled 38.5964 million mt, up 8.5 percent year on year, indicating a sharp drop in its growth. From January to July, the newly-added supply reached 282.322 million mt, up 16.34 percent.
In the month of July, China's exports of crude steel accounted for 17.4 percent of total national crude steel production; meanwhile, crude steel exports in the first seven months of this year covered 11.8 percent of total production.
The breakdown of China's steel production in July according to the various products is as follows:
Products | Output in July (10,000 mt) | Change year on year (10,000 mt) | Change year on year (%) | Jan-Jul output (10,000 mt) | Change year on year (10,000 mt) | Change year on year (%) |
Large profiles | 81.97 | -4.08 | -4.7 | 594.04 | 7.13 | 1.28 |
Medium profiles | 259.06 | 7.2 | 2.9 | 1855.11 | 210.33 | 12.8 |
779.67 | -82.09 | -9.5 | 5539.67 | -125.72 | -2.2 | |
Wire rod | 716.38 | 14.13 | 2 | 4821.86 | 318.42 | 7.1 |
Medium plate | 520.69 | 67.84 | 15 | 3575.91 | 636.15 | 21.6 |
HR coil | 914.06 | 182.38 | 24.9 | 6207.93 | 1403.25 | 29.2 |
CR coil | 300.57 | 24.58 | 8.9 | 2088.79 | 206.76 | 11 |
HR narrow steel strip | 291.86 | -19.47 | -6.3 | 2287.77 | 32.33 | 1.4 |
Coated sheet (coil) | 166.22 | 27.92 | 20.2 | 1070.95 | 104.47 | 10.8 |
Electrical steel sheet (coil) | 41.72 | 6.06 | 17 | 271.91 | 36.37 | 15.4 |
Seamless steel pipe | 173.07 | 16.79 | 10.7 | 1109.95 | 97.5 | 9.6 |
Welded steel pipe | 208.89 | 9.22 | 4.6 | 1352.5 | 87.54 | 6.9 |
China's coke output for July totaled 30.0741 million mt, up 2.4708 million mt or nine percent year on year. Meanwhile, national coke output for the January-July period reached 202.0473 million mt, up 20.5402 million mt or 11.3 percent year on year.
China's ferroalloy output totaled 1.7385 million mt in July, up 274,000 mt or 18.7 percent year on year. For the January-July period, on the other hand, national ferroalloy production reached 11.309 million mt, up 1.6939 million mt or 17.6 percent year on year.
In July, China's iron ore output totaled 63.7358 million mt, up 4.0582 million mt or 6.8 percent compared with the same month last year. The January-July iron ore output reached 455.9317 million mt, up 85.4403 million mt or 23.1 percent year on year.