Steel Raw Materials Monthly
[STEEL ] www.platts.com STEEL RAW MATERIALS MONTHLY www.twitter.com/PlattsSBBSteel Issue 17 / July 2014 Hebei mills and miners doing it tough Contents Iron Ore Market Focus 3 Hebei province, the present-day cradle of rise in the rest of the country, according to the steelmaking in China accounting for one- National Bureau of Statistics. Iron Ore Data 5 third of the country's total capacity, is By last May, however, Hebei’s crude steel Metallurgical Coal Market Focus 6 uncomfortable. All heavy industries it hosts, production had climbed to 16.4 million mt, Metallurgical Coal Data 8 but especially steel, have been under intense giving it a 23.2% share of the country’s total scrutiny since last October when China’s new output, which was down 3% on the previous Scrap Market Focus 9 central government led by President Xi Jinping year. Meanwhile, output elsewhere across Alloys Market Focus 10 and Premier Li Keqiang publicly resolved to China grew by an average 2.6%, Platts notes. News 11 tackle overcapacity as part of a major effort Whether steel production is slowing Special Report 19 to improve northern China’s air quality. because companies in the sector have been In June, Platts spent a week travelling in struggling to make decent profits or whether Project Focus 22 Beijing and touring Hebei, talking with Beijing’s environmental clampdown has started Global Trade Highlights 23 government officials, steel producers, iron ore to have some impact is unclear. But anecdotal Steel Raw Materials Monthly Averages 24 miners and traders, to take the pulse of the evidence points to the former reason, with province ten months after Beijing made its some small- and privately-owned steel mills in announcement on overcapacity.
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