In the first quarter of the current year, China's production of pig iron, crude steel and finished steel amounted to 179.71 million mt, 202.70 million mt and 261.41 million mt, respectively, up 0.14 percent, 2.37 percent and 5.3 percent year on year, with these respective increase rates down 7.44 percentage points, 6.73 percentage points and 7.0 percentage points compared to the same period last year, as announced by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) on April 28. China's average daily crude steel output in the first quarter was 2.2522 million mt, equivalent to an annual output of 822 million mt. In the given quarter, China's crude steel output accounted for 49.97 percent of global crude steel production, down 0.03 percentage points year on year.
In the first quarter this year, China exported 18.33 million mt of finished steel, up 27 percent, while it imported 3.59 million mt of finished steel, rising by 11.3 percent, both year on year. Meanwhile, the country imported 222.01 million mt of iron ore during the given period, up 19.4 percent year on year.
In the first quarter, fixed asset investments in China's steel industry totaled RMB 89.3 billion ($14.57 billion), down 3.34 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, inventories of finished steel in China indicated significant increases in January and February this year. As of the end of February, overall finished steel inventory in the main markets in China totaled 20.86 million mt, up 54.42 percent compared to the beginning of the year. In March, however, inventory indicated a small decline, dropping back to 19.41 million mt by the end of the month, but still up 43.65 percent compared to the start of the year. The overall significant rise in finished steel inventory in China during the first quarter reflects the sluggishness of demand and the ongoing high output levels.