The purchasing managers index (PMI) for China’s iron and steel sector returned to expansion in July for the second time since the start of the year and reached 52.5, according to the latest data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Aug. 5.

The CFLP data showed the steel sector’s production index was 52.6 in July, indicating that with the rebound in steel prices, profit margin of producing steel improved, igniting steel mills’ enthusiasm for production.

The operating rate of blast furnaces in a total of 163 steel mills tracked stood at 89.87% by July 26, up 0.76% from a week earlier. Statistics from the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) showed that the country’s daily output of crude steel was 2.13Mt during the period of July 11-20, up 1.34% from that in early July.

Source: China Metals e-mail [email protected]