In 2017, China’s crude steel output amounted to 831.73 million mt, up 5.7 percent year on year, as announced by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). In the given year, China’s finished steel output amounted to 1.04818 billion mt, up 0.8 percent year on year, while China’s overall outputs of metallurgical coke and ferroalloys totaled 431.43 million mt and 32.89 million mt, down 3.3 percent and rising by 0.5 percent year on year, respectively. Meanwhile, in the given period China’s finished steel exports amounted to 75.43 million mt, down 30.5 percent, while its finished steel imports totaled 13.3 million mt, up 0.6 percent, both year on year.
As also indicated by the NDRC, in December 2017 China's average composite steel price index issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) was at 124.05 points, up 7.44 points month on month and rising by 24.58 points year on year. In particular, in December of 2017, the average prices of 6.5 mm high-speed wire rod, 20 mm common medium plate and 1.0 mm cold rolled coil (CRC) were respectively RMB 4,613/mt ($732.2/mt), RMB 4,341/mt ($689.05/mt) and RMB 5,023/mt ($797.3/mt), up RMB 401/mt ($63.7/mt), RMB 168/mt ($26.7/mt) and RMB 216/mt ($34.3/mt) month on month and rising by 34.7 percent, 19.6 percent and 6.2 percent year on year, respectively.