In the first half of the current year, China’s crude steel output amounted to 399.56 million mt, down 1.1 percent year on year, as announced by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The growth rate in question was 0.2 percentage points higher than that recorded in the same period last year.
In the first half of the current year, China’s overall outputs of metallurgical coke and ferroalloys amounted to 215.77 million mt and 17.42 million mt, down 4.4 percent and decreasing by 0.7 percent respectively, both on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, in the given period China’s finished steel imports and exports totaled 6.46 million mt and 57.12 million mt, down 2.8 percent and up nine percent on year-on-year basis, respectively.
As also indicated by the NDRC, in June this year China's average composite steel price index issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) was at 68.31 points, down 7.34 points month on month and rising by 0.18 points year on year. In particular, in June 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 2,422/mt ($363.1/mt), RMB 2,467/mt ($369.9/mt) and RMB 3,068/mt ($460.0/mt), down RMB 249/mt ($37.3/mt), RMB 242/mt ($36.3/mt) and RMB 396/mt ($59.4/mt) month on month, while up 2.9 percent, rising by six percent and down 0.1 percent year on year, respectively.