SteelOrbis Shanghai
In August, a significant change was observed in China's steel production. With national crude steel output up by merely 1.3 percent, the outputs of pig iron and finished steel saw decreases of 1.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively compared with the same month last year. Average daily production of crude steel for August reached 1.3732 million mt, slightly above the level of 1.3408 million mt in February when a serious snow disaster hit China. Meanwhile, the sharp slump in finished steel prices has forced mills to cut back significantly on their production.
China's crude steel production in August totaled 42.5677 million mt, up 527,600 mt or 1.3 percent year on year. Average daily production during the month reached 1.3732 million mt, down 74,700 mt or 5.16 percent month on month. Meanwhile, crude steel production for the January-August period reached 351.092 million mt, up 26.9661 million mt or 8.3 percent year on year.
China's pig iron production in August totaled 40.0454 million mt, down 591,300 mt or 1.5 percent year on year. At the same time, total pig iron production in the January-August period reached 329.1211 million mt, up 20.0945 million mt or 6.5 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2007.
China's finished steel production for August totaled 47.8002 million mt, down 82,100 mt or 0.2 percent year on year. On the other hand, national finished steel production from January to August inclusive reached 399.8249 million mt, up 36.7696 million mt or 10.1 percent.
Taking imports and exports into consideration, the newly-added supply of crude steel to China's market in August totaled 35.3377 million mt, down 4.8 percent year on year. From January to August, the newly-added supply reached 317.892 million mt, up 13.6 percent.
In the month of August, China's exports of crude steel accounted for 20.3 percent of total national crude steel production; meanwhile, crude steel exports in the first eight months of this year covered 12.8 percent of total production.
China's coke output for August totaled 29.6681 million mt, up 1.9066 million mt or 6.9 percent year on year. Meanwhile, national coke output for the January-August period reached 232.3615 million mt, up 22.3975 million mt or 10.7 percent year on year.
China's ferroalloy output totaled 1.6982 million mt in August, up 234,400 mt or 16 percent year on year. For the January-August period, on the other hand, national ferroalloy production reached 13.0041 million mt, up 1.8942 million mt or 17 percent year on year.