In December this year, the purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the steel sector in China’s Hebei Province decreased by 2.5 percentage points month on month to 46.5 percent, as announced by the Hebei Province Metallurgical Industry Association.
In December, the overall new order index for Hebei Province’s steel sector stood at 47.9 percent, down 7.9 percentage points compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, the new export order index for the sector was at 36.4 percent, decreasing by 9.6 percentage points month on month. In the given month, the production index for Hebei Province’s steel sector was at 40.0 percent, up 2.7 percentage points month on month, while the inventory index for finished steel in Hebei Province decreased by 3.9 percentage points month on month to 32.0 percent.