China’s crude steel output dipped in mid-June, Cisa says

China’s crude steel output dipped in the second 10 days of June as steelmakers trimmed production again on falling prices, according to estimates from the China Iron & Steel Assn (Cisa).

Daily crude steel output dipped to an average of 1.97 million tonnes, down 1.4% from 1.999 million tonnes in the first 10 days of June, Cisa said.

The latest figure compares with the all-time high of 2.045 million tpd in the first 10 days of May.

“Some steelmakers felt the sales pressure as spot steel prices kept going down,” a trader in Tianjin said.

They could not afford to make any more losses so they had to reduce production, he added.

Cisa also reported its own members’ daily production at 1.655 million tonnes for the second 10 days of June, down 1.7 % from the previous period.

Cisa’s members are mostly state-owned steelmakers.

Producers need to cut production further in coming months to stop Chinese spot steel prices from losing ground in the summer, market participants said.

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