SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (Reuters) - China produced 1.669 million tonnes of crude steel per day in the Jan. 11-20 period, down 1.3 percent compared with the previous 10 days, according to data issued by the China Iron and Steel Association on Monday.
Production normally drops in January as construction activity in northern China slow down for the winter.
But output over the 10-day period was still 1.5 percent lower than the same period of 2011, and analysts have forecast that declining margins and weak demand could force mills to slash output further over the next month.
