In the January-October period of the current year, China’s crude steel output amounted to 675.10 million mt, down 2.2 percent year on year, as announced by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The growth rate in question was 4.3 percentage points lower than that recorded in the same period last year.
In the January-October period this year, China’s overall outputs of metallurgical coke and ferroalloys amounted to 375.656 million mt and 30.31 million mt, down 5.1 percent and 5.1 percent respectively, both on year-on-year basis. The growth rates of coke and ferroalloy production in the given period were 4.8 and 11.4 percentage points lower than in the same period of 2014. Meanwhile, in the January-October period this year China’s finished steel exports totaled 92.13 million mt, up 24.7 percent on year-on-year basis.
As also indicated by the NDRC, in October this year China's average composite steel price index issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) was at 60.11 points, down 26.24 points compared to October last year. In particular, in October 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 2,247/mt ($351.9/mt), RMB 2,044/mt ($320.1/mt) and RMB 2,599/mt ($407.0/mt), down RMB 50/mt ($7.8/mt), RMB 58/mt ($9.1/mt) and RMB 86/mt ($13.5/mt) month on month, while indicating declines of 24.2 percent, 33.9 percent and 35.1 percent year on year, respectively.