Operation of China iron and steel industry from January to June 2020

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission website released the operation of the steel industry from January to June 2020.

1. The output of iron and steel increased steadily. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the national output of pig iron, crude steel and steel was 432.68 million tons, 499.01 million tons and 605.84 million tons, respectively, up 2.2%, 1.4% and 2.7% year-on-year, respectively. In the first half of the year, the profits of steel enterprises decreased by 30%.

2. Steel exports continued to decline, imports increased significantly. According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, from January to June, China exported 28.704 million tons of steel, a year-on-year decrease of 16.5%; and a cumulative import of 7.343 million tons of steel, an increase of 26.1% year-on-year.

3. Steel prices continued to rise. According to the monitoring of China Iron and Steel Industry Association, as of the end of June, China's steel composite price index rebounded to 102.69 points, up 1.7% from the end of May and 3.4% lower than that at the beginning of the year, and the decline rate continued to narrow.

4. The benefit of steel enterprises decreased year on year. From January to June, the iron and steel enterprises of China Iron and Steel Industry Association achieved sales revenue of 2.09 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.18%; realized a profit of 68.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 36.4%, and the decline rate continued to narrow; the sales profit margin was 3.29%, 1.93 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

5. Steel inventory continued to decline. The social stock of five kinds of steel products (rebar, wire rod, hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil, medium and heavy plate) in major cities of China dropped to 12.16 million tons at the end of June, which was 36.2% lower than that at the end of March.

6. Import prices of iron ore continued to rise. According to the data of the General Administration of customs, the import volume of iron ore in China from January to June was 546.91 million tons, an increase of 9.6% year-on-year. In June, the average price of imported fine ore (62% grade) was 100.77 USD / T, with a month on month increase of 9.2 USD / T, or 10.0%.