China reduced steel production by 4.3% m/m in November

In November 2024, China’s steel companies reduced steel production by 4.3% compared to the previous month and increased by 2.5% compared to November 2023, to 78.4 million tons. It is reported by Reuters.

Average daily steel production for the month amounted to about 2.61 million tons, compared to 2.64 million tons in October and 2.54 million tons in November 2023.

The decline in steel production in November compared to the previous month was mainly due to lower margins for steelmakers due to the seasonal decline in demand and stable iron ore prices. In particular, steel consumption was affected by cold weather conditions in northern China, which halted construction work.

According to LSEG, rebar prices fell by 2.1% in November, while iron ore prices rose by 3.1% over the same period.

In January-November, steel production in China fell by 2.7% year-on-year – to 929.19 million tons. The figure is expected to decline by 2% in 2024.

As GMK Center reported earlier, China produced 1.019 billion tons of steel in 2023, up 0.6% from 2022. Thus, the downward trend in the country’s steel industry has stopped after two consecutive years of declining production.

Last year, the Chinese government did not impose restrictions on steel production in line with its ambitions to reduce CO2 emissions, which contributed to an increase in production and revenue of local steelmakers.

China’s steel exports in 2023 increased by 36.2% y/y – to 90.3 million tons. Steel imports amounted to 7.64 million tons, down 27.6% y/y. Iron re imports for the year increased by 6.6% y/y – to 1.179 billion tons.