China’s daily crude steel output falls further in late March

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Assn (Cisa) produced crude steel at an average rate of 1.6 million tpd over March 21-31, down 2.2% from the preceding ten days, according to data released by the industry body on Thursday April 9.

Cisa member mills, which are mainly medium-sized and large steelmakers, account for roughly 80% of the country’s total steel output.

The lower output might be a reflection of mills’ cautious outlook for the market in spring amid an absence of tangible factors that can improve demand, industry observers suggested.

“Both domestic and overseas buying have been sluggish over the past month. Most market participants still have a negative outlook despite the price recovery in late March, which was short-lived,” an analyst in Beijing said.