SteelOrbis Shanghai
According to the latest figures released by
China's State Bureau of Statistics,
China's urban fixed assets
investments totaled RMB 1.0071 trillion ($890.4 billion) during the January-October period of 2006, up 26.8 percent compared with the same period last year. Nevertheless, in the month of October alone, investment growth increased by just 16.8 percent year on year - much lower than the 23.6 percent growth in September - breaking the lowest monthly record for the past four years.
Broken down into the various industries, investment in coal mining and dressing increased 31.8 percent to RMB 101.2 billion ($12.9 billion), that in the power supply industry increased 15.3 percent to RMB 549.8 billion ($69.9 billion), investment in oil and gas exploration increased 22.9 percent to RMB 128.2 billion ($16.3 billion), investment input in railway transportation increased 104.2 percent to RMB 147.4 billion ($18.7 billion), that in non-metal minerals mining and processing increased 38.5 percent to RMB 156.6 billion ($19.9 billion), investment in ferrous metals mining and processing increased 3.2 percent to RMB 201.6 billion ($25.6 billion), while
investments in non-ferrous metals mining and processing increased 39.4 percent to RMB 96.9 billion ($12.3 billion).
The reduced growth in urban fixed assets investment in October has led to the bearish demand for steel products, which is the major reason for the downward trend in the Chinese steel market since mid-October. Meanwhile,
investments in the ferrous metals mining and processing industries remained at a low level, indicating that
production expansion in the steel industry has been effectively curbed.