Chinese specialty steel output up by 9% in 2004

Chinese specialty steel output up by 9% in 2004

The specialty steel output in China is expected to reach 21.3 million tons in 2004, up by around 9% compared to 2003 due to upward trend of the domestic heavy industries such as shipbuilding, machinery and automotive. In 2003, specialty steel consumption of machinery sector accounted for 24% of the total demand. The specialty steel consumption of automotive sector is forecasted to account for 35% in 2004. In line with the statistics, automotive sector consumes around 2 million tons of high quality specialty steel each year.