Save
Print[Ferro-Alloys.com] China's July crude steel output fell a tad from June as steelmakers vacillated between cutting output to boost prices and increasing production for exports in a moribund domestic economy. The drop in steel production was lower than analyst expectations of a decline of about 3%.
The bellwether industrial-production indicator fell 1% on an average daily basis to 61.69 million metric tons, although the volume rose on a monthly basis by 2.5%, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
A ladle pours molten iron into a container at a steel plant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, in May. July crude steel output slipped 1% from June.
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., 600019.SH 0.00% China's largest listed mill and bellwether steelmaker, said Friday that it will cut product prices for September, for the third month in a row.
Steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have fallen some 13% from the start of 2012.
Copper output also eased due to high stockpiles, falling 6.8% from a record 518,000 tons in June.
Still, producers may be keeping smelters in operation, despite flagging downstream demand, in anticipation of supportive macroeconomic and monetary policies, Mr. Jiang said.
July copper output rose 0.8% from a year earlier to 483,000 tons.
Production of all other major base metals, except tin, also fell from a month earlier. Nickel fell by 14.1%, zinc by 12.9% and lead by 8.5%.
Copyright © 2013 Ferro-Alloys.Com. All Rights Reserved. Without permission, any unit and individual shall not copy or reprint!
- [Editor:editor]
Daily News
Research
Magazine
Company Database
Customized Database
Conferences
Advertisement
Trade
Online inquiry
Contact
Tell Us What You Think