China's Steel Output Surges to Record, Spurring Price Slide
- Increased supplies have caused prices to drop since mid-March
- Aluminum production was highest ever in first three months
China's Economy Accelerates for Second Straight Quarter
This article is for subscribers only.
China, which produces half the world’s steel, churned out a record quantity in March as mills benefited from healthy margins, setting the scene for a subsequent decline in prices.
Production of crude steel expanded 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 72 million metric tons, according to the National Statistics Bureau. That implies an average daily run-rate of 2.323 million tons, beating the previous monthly record in June. Output for the first three months was 201.1 million tons, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier.