In December this year, the purchasing managers' index of the steel sector in China’s Hebei Province decreased to 42.7 percent, down 1.8 percentage points month on month, remaining below 50 percent, as announced by the Hebei Province Metallurgical Industry Association (MIA). In the given month, the trend of the PMI for the steel sector in Hebei Province was the same as that for the whole of China, which decreased by 3.1 percentage points month on month to 47.5 percent, as announced by the China Steel Logistics Committee (CSLC).
In December, the overall new order index for Hebei Province’s steel sector decreased to 36.3 percent, down 7.6 percentage points compared to the previous month.
In the given month, the new export order index for Hebei Province’s steel sector remained stable month on month, standing at 42.9 percent.
At the same time, the inventory index for finished steel in Hebei Province decreased to 51.3 percent, down 3.8 percentage points month on month.
In December, the inventory index for raw materials in Hebei Province stood at 41.5 percent, down 2.6 percentage points month on month.
The ex-works price index for finished steel stood at 38.8 percent, up 12.0 percentage points month on month.
In December, the purchase price index for raw materials stood at 37.8 percent, down 6.3 percentage points from November.
Steel prices in Hebei Province are anticipated to edge down in January due to the expected slack demand from downstream users amid the cold weather and also due to decreasing iron ore prices.