National Development and Reform Commission: operation of the iron and steel industry from January to June 2020

SMM News: first, iron and steel production has increased steadily. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the national output of pig iron, crude steel and steel products from January to June was 432.68 million tons, 499.01 million tons and 605.84 million tons respectively, up 2.2%, 1.4% and 2.7% respectively over the same period last year.

Second, steel exports continued to decline and imports increased significantly. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, from January to June, China exported a total of 28.704 million tons of steel, down 16.5 percent from the same period last year, and imported 7.343 million tons of steel, an increase of 26.1 percent over the same period last year.

Third, steel prices continue to rise. By the end of June, China's composite steel price index had rebounded to 102.69 points, up 1.7% from the end of May and 3.4% from the beginning of the year, according to the China Iron and Steel Association.

Fourth, the efficiency of enterprises has declined compared with the same period last year. From January to June, the sales revenue of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association member steel enterprises reached 2.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.18 percent over the same period last year; the realized profit was 68.67 billion yuan, down 36.4 percent from the same period last year, and the rate of decline continued to narrow; and the sales profit margin was 3.29 percent, 1.93 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

Fifth, steel inventory continues to decline. The social inventory of five kinds of steel (rebar, wire rod, hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil and medium and heavy plate) in major cities across the country dropped to 12.16 million tons at the end of June, compared with the end of March, the social inventory decreased by 36.2%.

VI. Import mineral prices continue to rise. According to the General Administration of Customs, the country imported 546.91 million tons of iron ore from January to June, an increase of 9.6 per cent over the same period last year. The average price of imported fine ore (62% grade) in June was US $100.77 per tonne, up US $9.2 per tonne, or 10.0 per cent, from the previous month.

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