On January 5, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) stated that in the first 11 months of 2012 Chinese crude steel output amounted to 660.13 million mt, up 2.9 percent year on year, with this year-on-year growth rate down 6.9 percentage points compared with the growth rate for the corresponding period of 2011. Accordingly, China's total output of crude steel in 2012 is expected to reach 720 million mt.
In addition, in the January-November period of last year, total fixed asset investment in China's steel industry amounted to RMB 594.6 billion ($95.3 billion), up 6.5 percent, including RMB 455.6 billion ($73 billion) in the ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector, up 2.7 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Although China's crude steel output capacity growth has dropped dramatically compared with 2011, the overall capacity increase in 2012 is still expected to reach 50 million mt.