Posted on 20 May 2025
China's total crude steel output over the first four months of this year rose slightly to reach 345.4 million tonnes, up by 0.4% from the same period last year, according to the latest release by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday morning.
For April alone, China produced 86 million tonnes of crude steel, the same level from one year earlier, the NBS statistics showed. On a daily basis, the country's crude steel output registered 2.87 million tonnes/day on average in April, falling by 4.3% on month, Mysteel Global calculated based on the NBS data.
The results suggested a slowdown in production among Chinese steelmakers, as the prices of finished steel hovered low due to lackluster demand from end-users and gloomy market sentiment amid escalating trading tensions between the United States and China last month, Mysteel Global noted.
For example, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment assessed by Mysteel on a daily basis, averaged at Yuan 3,318/tonne ($460/t) including the 13% VAT in April, lower Yuan 57/t on month, and the monthly average of the assessed Q235 4.75mm HRC price declined by Yuan 75/t on month to Yuan 3,347/t including the VAT.
Spot steel transactions in China failed to meet expectations for April, a traditional peak season for steel consumption due to favorable weather conditions in most regions of the country.
Last month, the daily combined trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among 237 Chinese trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's regular tracking averaged 115,677 tonnes/day, much lower than the 151,316 t/d level recorded in the same month last year, though it had increased by 7,939 t/d or 7.4% from March.
For April, China's finished steel output reached 125.1 million tonnes, rising by 6.6% on year, taking the total production over January-April to 480.2 million tonnes, up by 6% on year, according to the NBS statistics.
China's steel output for January-April 2025
| Apr 2025 | Jan-Apr 2025 | ||
Volume (mln t) | YoY (%) | Volume (mln t) | YoY (%) | |
Crude steel | 86.02 | 0.0 | 345.35 | 0.4 |
Finished steel | 125.09 | 6.6 | 480.21 | 6.0 |
Pig iron | 72.58 | 0.7 | 288.85 | 0.8 |
Source: NBS
Source:Mysteel Global
