China's major steelmakers have showed stronger production capabilities in August, thanks to stabilized key raw material prices, an industry expert said on Tuesday.
Fu Jing, director of the Metallurgical Industry Information Center, made the remarks on the latest data of steel production in August during an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing. According to the latest data released by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), major surveyed steel enterprises produced an average of 1.973 million tonnes of crude steel per day in the first 10 days of August, up 5.8 percent from the previous period.
The daily production of pig iron also experienced a synchronized upward trend, said the CISA.
"Due to high temperatures and rainfalls in summer, downstream demand for construction-related steel has remained relatively weak. Manufacturing steel demand has become more uneven across sectors. However, prices of raw materials, such as iron ore and coke, have structurally stabilized this month. So, the willingness of our steel production enterprises to produce has rebounded," said Fu.
The recovery was also supported by blast furnaces returning to active production after maintenance, directly driving up output of both crude steel and pig iron month on month, she added.
China’s steel output rises as raw material prices stabilize: expert
