In December last year, the purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the steel sector in China’s Hebei Province decreased to 45.5 percent, down 3.3 percentage points month on month, as announced by the Hebei Province Metallurgical Industry Association.
In December, the overall new order index for Hebei Province’s steel sector stood at 54.2 percent, up one percentage point compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, the new export order index for the sector was at 45.8 percent, decreasing by 14.2 percentage points month on month. In the given month, the production index for Hebei Province’s steel sector was at 35.5 percent, down 10.1 percentage points month on month, while, the inventory index for finished steel in Hebei Province increased to 39.2 percent, up 0.1 percentage point month on month. In addition, the raw material inventory index in Hebei Province decreased to 42.1 percent, down 12.3 percentage points month on month.