NDRC: China’s crude steel output up 2.7% in January-May

In the January-May period of the current year, China's crude steel output amounted to 342.52 million mt, up 2.7 percent year on year, as announced by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on June 25. The growth rate in question was 5.3 percentage points lower than that recorded in the same period of last year.
 
In the first five months of the current year, China's overall outputs of metallurgical coke and ferroalloys amounted to 191.93 million mt and 15.62 million mt, down 1.6 percent and up 10.9 percent respectively, both on year-on-year basis. The growth rates of coke and ferroalloy production in the given period were 9.5 and 8.7 percentage points lower than in the same period of 2013. Meanwhile, in January-May this year, China's exports of finished steel amounted to 33.94 million mt, up 33.6 percent on year-on-year basis.
 
As also indicated by the NDRC, in May this year China's composite steel price index issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) was at 95.09 points, down 0.66 points compared to April. In particular, in May the average prices of 6.5 mm high-speed wire rod, 20 mm common medium plate and 1.0 mm cold rolled coil were respectively RMB 3,337/mt ($544.37/mt), RMB 3,509/mt ($572.43/mt) and RMB 4,227/mt ($689.56/mt), down RMB 52/mt ($8.48/mt), RMB 19/mt ($3.1/mt) and RMB 32/mt ($5.22/mt) month on month, while indicating declines of 7.3 percent, 6.1 percent and 9.3 percent year on year.
 
In the January-April period of the current year, the domestic steel industry realized an overall gross profit of RMB 41.2 billion ($6.72 billion), down 16.4 percent year on year.