In January this year, the purchasing managers index (PMI) for the Chinese steel sector was at 51.5 percent, up 5.9 percentage points as compared to December last year, as announced by the China Steel Logistics Committee (CSLC), which is part of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).
In addition, in January the production index for the steel sector increased by 2.2 percentage points compared to the previous month to 46.8 percent. Meanwhile, in January the sub-index for new orders in the steel sector saw a rise of 13.9 percentage points month on month to 53.4 percent.
In the given month, the finished steel inventory index decreased to 42.4 percent, down 6.4 percentage points month on month, the index for new export orders saw a month-on-month rise of 8.3 percentage points to 44.1 percent, while the purchase price index of raw materials in the Chinese steel sector stood at 47.8 percent, indicating an increase of 6.6 percentage points month on month.