Operation of iron and steel industry from January to August 2020

1. Steel materials’ production continued to grow. According to the data of the National Bureau of statistics, the national output of pig iron, crude steel and steel was 589.4 million tons, 688.89 million tons and 844.69 million tons respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 3.4%, 3.7% and 4.8% respectively.

2. Steel materials’ exports continued to decline, imports continued to grow. According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, from January to August, 36.557 million tons of steel products were exported, a year-on-year decrease of 18.6%, an increase of 1 percentage point compared with that of January to July; the cumulative import of steel materials was 12.189 million tons, with a year-on-year increase of 59.6%, an increase of 10.3 percentage points compared with January July.

3. Steel materials’ prices continued to rise. According to the monitoring of China Iron and Steel Industry Association, as of the end of August, China's steel composite price index was 105.74 points, up 1.2% from the end of July, and 0.99 points or 1% higher than the same period of last year.