May. 24, 2013 (China Knowledge) - China, the world's largest steel producer, saw its output of crude steel rise 8.4% YoY to 258.15 million metric tons in the first four months of this year, according to the latest statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission.
 
The growth rate was 6.5 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year.
 
The commission said that the country's output of steel products rose 10.5% YoY to 334.26 million metric tons in the first four months, accelerating from a 6.2% increase in the corresponding period of last year.

China exported 19.98 million metric tons of steel products in the four-month period, up 19% YoY, and imported 4.49 million metric tons of steel products, down 0.9%% YoY.

The country's crude steel output grew 6.8% YoY to 65.65 million metric tons in April.

In the month of April, China's steel prices experienced a slight drop, with the domestic composite steel price index falling to 1.73 points from March to 106.26.

The prices of 20-mm steel sheets and 1-mm cold-rolled coils were RMB 3,869 per metric ton and RMB 4,758 per metric ton, down 4758 and down 1.1% from the previous month, respectively.

The steel industry reaped a total profit of RMB 36.49 billion in the first quarter, 110% more than in the same period of last year.