The Chinese steel industry has registered a growth in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid recovery in manufacturing generated steel demand aiding the steel sector.
The country’s National Development Reform Commission states that domestic steel companies registered a growth of 3.2pc. In the first 11 months, the country’s crude steel production increased by 5.5pc to 96.16mn mt; the output of pig iron was 812.9mn mt, up by 4.2pc from the prior-year period; and steel at 120.03mn mt, up by 7pc.
The inventory of five types of steel, including rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, and plate in major cities across the country was 8.37mn mt in November-end, a decrease of 25.7pc from the prior month and down 58.6pc compared to the peak in the first half of the month. The price index in November also increased by 5.3pc from October and 4.5pc from the prior-year month. In the first 11 months, the average value of the steel price index was 103.85 points, a decline of 4pc compared to the prior-year period.
Sales revenue in the Jan-Nov period also increased by 8.7pc from Jan-Nov 2019 to CNY4.4 trillion. Profits increased by 3.2pc to CNY193.4bn.
($1=CNY6.53)