China's Crude Steel Output Drops for First Time in 20 Years

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--China's crude steel output in the first half of 2015 fell 1.3% from the same period last year to 410 million tonnes, marking the first such reduction in 20 years, according to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA). Steel output in China may have peaked out, the association said.

The production drop compares with growth of 3% at this time last year.

Production of steel productions for the first six months of this year, meanwhile, reached 558.8 million tonnes, an increase of 2%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

China's steel consumption also has peaked. Steel consumption for the first six months of this year was 4.71% less than in the same period of 2014, which in turn was 3.39% less than in 2013, the last year in which an increase was recorded.

China's steel exports in the first half of 2015 increased to 52.4 million tonnes, a 27.8% jump over the same six months of 2014. Steel imports fell 8.2% to 6.65 million tonnes.

China's imported 452.91 million tonnes of iron ore in the first half of this year, a drop of 0.9%. Coke exports increased 22.4% to 4.75 million tonnes, but the value of the exports fell 4.6%.

The price of steel products has continued to fall. The average comprehensive steel price index fell from 83.09 at the end of 2014 to 66.69 at the end of June. 2015, which surpassed the drop for all of 2014.

However, the price of iron ore has rebounded since April 2015. The price index for iron ore in China rose from $46.84 per tonne on April 10, 2015, to $59.19 at the end of June 2015, a jump of 26.4%, during which the average comprehensive steel price index had dropped 10.2%.

China's iron and steel industry reported reduced returns during the first half of this year. Total sales by large and mid-sized iron and steel enterprises were $241.9 billion, a drop of 17.9% year-over-year, and the total profits fell to $270 million.

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