China produced 270.07Mt of crude steel during the first four months of 2015, down 1.3% from the previous year according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Over the same period, exports of steel products were up 32.7%.

During April, China produced 68.91Mt, down 0.7% year-on-year, and pig iron output was down 2.1% year-on-year to 59.49Mt. Steel products output was up 3.4% to 96.41Mt.

China exported 34.31Mt of steel products between January and April 2015, up 32.7% year-on-year. The country’s steel export value rose 7.7% year-on-year during the same period.

In April, China exported 8.54Mt of steel and imported 1.2Mt.

China imported 307.25Mt of iron ore over the first four months of 2015, up 0.7% compared with the same period last year. In April alone, China imported 80.21Mt of iron ore.

The iron ore import value dropped 44.8% year-on-year between January and April of this year.

Source: China Metals