In the first quarter this year, Chinese apparent consumption of crude steel amounted to 160 million mt, rising by 0.75 percent year on year, compared to year-on-year growth of 6.4 percent in Q1 2011, as reported by Chinese industry sources.
Apparent consumption of crude steel in China had indicated a decrease on year-on-year basis from November 2011 to January this year. In January, an eight percent decrease was seen compared to the same month last year. From February, however, apparent crude steel output in China has resumed its uptrend on year-on-year basis.