The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) has announced that in early July (July 1-10) this year, the average aggregate daily crude steel output of large and medium-sized steel enterprises in China - all CISA members - totaled 2.0136 million mt, down just 0.65 percent compared to late June (June 21-30). During the previous period - in late June - the average aggregate daily crude steel output lost 1.86 percent, which means that, even despite the continued production decline in early July, the pace of decline of production in fact slowed down, thereby contributing to the oversupplied market. The decline was connected with the restrictions in Tangshan and some other regions.
The output decrease was not enough to support the positions of steel mills as demand was dropping much faster than supply. As of July 10, the finished steel inventories of large and medium-sized steel enterprises in China amounted to 12.3094 million mt, increasing by 9.69 percent or more than 1 million mt compared to June 30.