Posted on 09 Jan 2026
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) averaged 1.64 million tonnes/day during December 21-31, declining by a significant 11% or by 202,000 t/d from the previous ten-day period, according to the latest release from the association on January 7.
Similarly, the average was also lower by 12.3% compared with the corresponding period last year, the same release revealed.
All six regions that CISA monitors logged reduced production during the late December period from the level in mid-December, with East China contributing the most to the overall output drop by region. Member mills in this region produced 436,000 t/d of crude steel on average over December 21-31, slumping by 18.6% or 100,000 t/d from the prior ten days, according to the association's release.
By province, North China's Hebei province – the hub of China's steel sector – recorded the largest production dip in volume during December 21-31, with the daily output of member mills in the province declining by 10.4% or 44,000 tonnes. No detailed production data is provided in the release.
Based on the same dataset, CISA estimated that China's crude steel output among both member mills and non-member mills over last year's last eleven days averaged 2.02 million t/d, retreating by the same 11% from December 11-20.
Meanwhile, finished steel produced by CISA member mills averaged 1.89 million t/d over December 21-31, up by 4.9% or 89,000 t/d from mid-December, statistics in the same release showed.
Despite the higher output, finished steel inventories held by the member mills declined in December 21-31, falling by a marked 11.7% or 1.87 million tonnes from December 20 to 14.14 million tonnes as of December 31, another CISA release also published on Wednesday indicated.
Similarly, the finished steel stocks held by traders and piled in commercial warehouses in the 21 cities CISA regularly checks totaled 7.21 million tonnes as of December 31, decreasing by 3.6% or 270,000 tonnes from the previous ten-day period, data in another CISA release issued on last Sunday showed.
Source:Mysteel
