According to the latest figures issued by the authorities in the Chinese province of Jiangsu, in the first half of the current year the province produced 31.64 million mt of crude steel,, up 23 percent, and 45.73 million mt of finished steel, up 26 percent, both comparisons being on year-on-year basis.
During the first six months of the year, Jiangsu Province imported 1.31 million mt of finished steel, up 17 percent year on year, at a cost of $1.61 billion, up 24 percent year on year. Meanwhile, in the given period, the province exported 3.98 million mt of finished steel, up 213 percent, generating export revenues of $3.32 billion, up 119 percent, both compared to the corresponding period of last year.
In the first half of 2010, import prices of raw materials such as iron ore (including iron ore concentrate) and scrap in Jiangsu Province increased by 34 percent and 21 percent year on year respectively. On the export side, the province's export volumes of steel bars and flat rolled products increased greatly in the January-June period this year as compared to the same period last year; at the same time, however, export prices were down on year-on-year basis.