China’s crude steel production suspends y-o-y increase in April due to weak steel demand

China’s crude steel production suspends y-o-y increase in April due to weak steel demand
Published by:Jessica Zong<>
19 May 2025 @ 07:46 UTC

China’s steel mills suspended a year-on-year increase in crude steel production in April, though crude steel output in the country continue to rise slightly on a year-on-year basis in the first four months of 2025, according to data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday May 19.Hot metal production was 72.58 million tonnes in April, up by 0.7% year on year, but down by 3.6% from a month earlier.
The production of hot metal totaled 288.85 million tonnes in the first four months of 2025, up by 0.8% year on year.

Crude steel production came in at 86.02 million tonnes in April, unchanged from a year earlier but down by 7.3% month on month.
Output totaled 345.35 million tonnes in the first four months of 2025, up by 0.4% year on year.

The production of finished steel was 125.09 million tonnes in April, up by 6.6% year on year and by 6.9% month on month.
Finished steel production totaled 480.21 million tonnes in the first four months of 2025, up by 6% from the same period a year earlier.

Steel demand, especially on the rebar front, was weaker than the same period a year earlier, which led to a reduction in production at steel mills. Some mills placed their rebar production line on facilities maintenance in April, sources told Fastmarkets.
The downstream sectors of construction steel also weakened in April, which pushed down steel prices over the month, according to sources.
Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, ex-whs Eastern China averaged 3,069 yuan per tonne in April, down by 79 yuan per tonne from 3,148 yuan per tonne in March, and down by 401 yuan per tonne from 3,470 yuan per tonne a year earlier.
Key downstream industry data for April: NBS New housing starts totaled 178.36 million square meters, down by 23.8% year on year.
Infrastructure investment – excluding utilities (electricity, heat, gas and water production) and the supply industries – rose by 5.8% year on year.
Automotive output totaled 2.60 million units, up by 8.5% year on year. Output in the first four months of the year came in at 10.12 million units, up by 11.1% year on year.