BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s crude steel output in April slid 7% from March, defying analysts’ expectations of a rise against the backdrop of healthy profits and robust exports, but production was still reasonably high.
The world’s largest steel producer made 86.02 million metric tons of crude steel last month, flat with April a year ago and down from 92.84 million tons in March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.
The April volume suggested average daily output of about 2.87 million tons, versus 2.99 million tons in March and 2.86 million tons in April 2024, according to Reuters calculations based on the data.
Around 56% of steelmakers were operating at a profit in April, compared to 53% in March, a survey from consultancy Mysteel showed.
Analysts said decent demand in China and robust exports helped support output last month.
Steel mills want to ratchet up production, especially after having suffered severe losses in the past two years when demand was battered by a protracted property downturn, according to analysts. That will likely buoy output in May, they added.
In the first four months of 2025, China manufactured a total of 345.35 million tons of crude steel, up 0.4% year on year, despite Beijing unveiling plans in March to restructure the giant steel sector via output cuts.
Beijing has not disclosed essential details including the timing and scale of the output.
However, the state-backed China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said in a note on May 16 that the steel output controls will be mainly reflected in the second half of the year, contingent on the enforcement of local governments.
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Colleen Howe; Editing by Sonali Paul)
