China's steel mills sank deeper into losses in August 2024 as the country's steel crisis rippled through the industry. The benchmark rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange settled at 3,100 yuan a tonne on 15 August, the lowest in more than four years and down 24 percent since the start of the year. Only about 5 percent of Chinese steel producers were profitable, according to consultancy Mysteel, and mills were cutting output sharply: July production of 82.94 million tonnes was the lowest since December 2015, down 9.5 percent from June. Output in the first seven months totalled 613.72 million tonnes, down 2.2 percent on the year. Analysts said output was likely to fall further in the coming months if the sector was to meet the unofficial target of keeping total 2024 production no higher than in 2023, and Bloomberg Intelligence estimated Chinese steel consumption could contract by about 3 percent in 2024.
Source: Offshore Engineer (Reuters) — https://energynews.oedigital.com/mineral-resources/2024/08/20/outlook-darkens-for-chinas-already-weak-steel-output-russell
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