In the first three quarters this year, China’s steel industry has faced problems of rapid increases in steel output and sharp declines in profit, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has stated.
The average composite steel price index (CSPI) stood at 108.9 points in the first three quarters, down 6.6 percent year on year. In particular, in the given period the average long product index and flat product index stood at 115.0 and 105.0 points, down 5.4 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively, showing a better performance in long products than in flat products.
The China Iron Ore Price Index (CIOPI) was 317.27 points as of October 21, down 2.02 points month on month, while decreasing by 25.6 percent from the highest level recorded in this year.
Meanwhile, the MIIT stated that in the January-August period this year China’s steel industry registered an operating revenue of RMB 5.58 trillion (0.79 trillion), up 8.9 percent year on year, while posting a gross profit of RMB 225.99 billion ($31.9 billion) for the given period, down 24.7 percent year on year.