SHANGHAI, Jan 7 (SMM) – China’s output of hot-rolled coils and plates looks set to continue to trend higher this month, as enticing profits encourage mills to step up production.
An SMM survey showed that Chinese steelmakers plan to produce 9.71 million mt of hot-rolled coils and plates in January, up 5.32% from the realised output of 9.22 million mt in December.
About 427,000 mt would be exported, up 5.4% from a month earlier, and volumes slated to enter domestic markets are likely to increase 5.3% to 9.28 million mt.
