In the January-July period of the current year, China’s crude steel output amounted to 491.55 million mt, up 5.1 percent year on year, as announced by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). In the first seven months of the current year, China’s finished steel output amounted to 648.56 million mt, up 1.1 percent year on year, while China’s overall outputs of metallurgical coke and ferroalloys amounted to 258.43 million mt and 20 million mt, up 2.2 percent and down 1.7 percent year on year, respectively. Meanwhile, in the given period China’s finished steel exports amounted to 47.95 million mt, down 28.7 percent, while its finished steel imports totaled 7.79 million mt, up 2.6 percent, both year on year.
As also indicated by the NDRC, in July this year China's average composite steel price index issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) was at 104.87 points, up 6.17 points month on month and rising by 33.3 points year on year. In particular, in July 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 3,813/mt ($578.6/mt), RMB 3,666/mt ($556.3/mt) and RMB 4,306/mt ($653.4/mt), up RMB 119/mt ($18.1/mt), RMB 242/mt ($36.7/mt) and RMB 347/mt ($52.7/mt) month on month, while rising by 48.6 percent, 42.3 percent and 37.4 percent year on year.