Jul. 26, 2012 (China Knowledge) - China, the world's largest steel producer, saw its crude steel output rise 1.8% YoY in the first half of this year, slowing from a 9.6% growth in the same period of 2011, according to the latest statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission.
   
The commission said that the country's output of steel products rose 6.1% YoY to 467.44 million metric tons in the first six months, slowing from a 12.8% increase in the corresponding period of last year.

China exported 27.25 million metric tons of steel products in the period, up 12.1% YoY, and imported 6.96 million metric tons of steel products, down 13.4% YoY.
 
The country's coke output grew 6.4% YoY to 224.22 million metric tons in the period.

In the month of June, China's steel prices continued to drop, with the domestic composite steel price index falling 2.89 points from the previous month or 19.33 points YoY to 115.87. The average prices of 20-mm steel sheets and 1-mm cold-rolled coils were RMB 4,159 per metric ton and RMB 4,935 per metric ton, down 3.2% and down 3.3% MoM, or down 16.5% and 10.6% YoY, respectively.

The steel industry realized RMB 52.2 billion in profit in the first five months, 49.4% less than in the same period of last year. The ferrous metal mining and dressing sector booked a profit of RMB 27.5 billion, down 11.2% YoY, and the steel smelting and processing sector recorded profit of RMB 20.1 billion, 68.2% less than in the corresponding period of 2011.