China’s output of pig iron is up by 3.06pc at 132mn mt for Jan-Feb 2020, over the prior-year period, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said on March 31.
In January and February, the output of crude steel and steel products increased by 3.07pc and 3.39pc to 155mn mt and 167mn mt, respectively, also in comparison with the same period last year.
MIIT attributed a 3.3pc decline in steel prices for the Jan-Feb period over a year ago, to the COVID-19 outbreak.
As of Feb 28, China’s steel price index was down 5.71pc at 100.39 points, MIIT said. During these two months, steel exports dropped by 27pc from a year ago, to 7.811mn mt.
The value of exports declined by 13pc to $61.069mn. Operating income of the industry also declined by 11.4pc to CNY 82,194bn from the previous year. MIIT claimed profit for China’s steel industry is down by 34.4pc to CNY 12.89 billion, from a year ago.