Posted on 12 Mar 2009
Crude steel output in
The February figure implied daily production of 1.44 million tonnes, compared with 1.33 million tonnes in January and equivalent to about 527 million tonnes of annual crude steel output, according to Reuters calculations, the highest rates since August. In all of 2008
On a yearly basis, total February production was still 6 percent below a year ago, but the pace of decline eased after an annual fall of more than 10 percent in the fourth quarter.
Chinese steelmakers restarted their facilities as domestic steel prices once recovered in the past few months. But prices fell again in late February partly due to the market being flooded with unwanted steel.
"Product inventories in the domestic steel mills increased and weighed on the prices, while some small mills have shut their facilities again," said a manager at a state-owned major steel trading house, who declined to be named.
Industry officials have warned against the rush back into production, noting that demand has not yet recovered in the domestic market and there has been no apparent effect from government policies aiming at boosting consumption.
The surge in the February steel production has lead
China's raw coal output in the first two months of 2009 rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier to 368.9 million tonnes, with February's raw coal output standing at 196.6 million tonnes, the the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The February output rose 16 percent from the same period last year, when the whole nation was immersed in celebrating Lunar New Year holidays and then fighting against massive snow storms disrupted production and transportation in parts of
"The growth in output is in the normal range. Because of the mine accident in
