Steel downstream sectors resumed production in March, but new orders were lower than expected

The PMI for steel downstream sectors was 51.33 in March, up 8.03 points MoM and 0.51 point YoY. The seasonally-adjusted composite index was 47.52, down 2.18 points MoM but up 0.92 point YoY.

In a word, with waning impact of the CNY holidays, various steel downstream industries resumed production, of which, restart of the manufacturing industry was better than that of the construction industry. New orders increased in March. The number of new construction projects was lower than expected, but may increase aggressively in Q2. In terms of manufacturing, a plan to Promote Large-scale Equipment Updates and Trade-in of Old Consumer Goods for New Ones and the intensive release of local government policies to promote consumption of home appliances and auto made buyers in a strong wait-and-see sentiment, hindering order uptick somewhat. Production index was 52.74 in March, up 16.94 points MoM and 1.74 points YoY. The new order index came in at 51.65, up 6.06 points MoM and flat with last year.