In July this year, China’s steel bar production was still close to the record-high monthly output registered in June, amounting to 22.485 million mt, up 26.1 percent year on year and just 0.9 percent down compared to the monthly record of 22.693 million mt for the current year recorded in June, as announced by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In the January-July period of the current year, China produced 142.292 million mt of steel bar, increasing by 20.7 percent year on year. The growth rate was higher than 19.3 percent in the January-June period this year.
The strong bar production in the first seven months together with the still less-than-bright forecasts for steel demand from construction in the second half will put pressure on steelmakers in the coming months.