In November this year, the purchasing managers index (PMI) of the Chinese steel sector stood at 49.0 percent, increasing by 1.5 percentage points as compared to October, but staying below 50 for the third consecutive month, as announced on December 1 by the China Steel Logistics Committee (CSLC) which is part of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).
In the previous two months, China's steel sector PMI had moved on a downward trend on month-on-month basis. In particular, in October the production index for the steel sector had indicated a 4.5 percentage point month-on-month decrease to 48.5 percent. Although the steel sector PMI still remained in the contraction zone, i.e. below 50, the sub-index for new orders rebounded to 48.5 percent with an increase of 1.7 percentage points month on month.