Crude steel production remains strong in China
China's crude steel production continued to pick up speed in August, casting a shadow on steel prices. The country produced 30.46 million tons of crude steel in August, up 26.8 percent year on year. In month-on-month terms, August output rose 4.3 percent from July's 29.2 million tons. China's total crude steel production through the first eight months of the year reached 225 million tons, up 28.2 percent year on year. The top three provinces in terms of production were Hebei (6.34 million tons), Jiangsu (2.9 million tons) and Shandong (2.8 million tons). All three provinces are located in northeastern China and together accounted for almost 40 percent of China's total crude steel production in August. The increase in August production was due in part to the slight recovery in July that brought some hope to the steel markets. However, demand could not keep up with production in August and prices fell once more.