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China's June crude steel output eases as demand and margins shrink

China's unrefined steel output in June fell 1.3% from May, stats bureau information showed on Monday, curbed by dwindling need and diminishing steel margins.

The world's biggest steel producer made 91.61 million metric lots of unrefined steel last month, information from the National Bureau of Data (NBS) revealed, versus 92.86 million tons in May.

It was up 0.2% from a year previously, the data showed.

Steel need alleviated last month as summer heatwaves and heavy rains in southern regions curbed building and construction activities.

Supply pressures mounted amid seasonally slack demand, weakening market confidence, sending downward pressure to steel costs, said Kevin Bai, a Beijing-based expert at consultancy CRU Group.

Likewise weighing on June output is that steel exports revealed indications of compromising last month.

Steel exports

moved by more than 9% from May to 8.75 million lots in June, customs data showed recently.

In action to falling steel prices and higher stocks, several steelmakers scaled down output and some carried out devices maintenance.

The June number represents a typical everyday output of about 3.05 million loads, the greatest considering that April 2023, according to calculations based upon the NBS information

That is compared to about 3 million heaps in May and 3.04 million loads in June 2023.

Daily output in June was higher than the previous month in part because June has one less day, said Ge Xin, a Beijing-based expert at consultancy Lange Steel.

China produced 530.57 million tons of crude steel in the first half of 2024, down 1.1% from the exact same duration in 2023, NBS data revealed.

Improved demand and much better margins are anticipated to drive up production in July, experts stated.

(source: Reuters)