Bloomberg Jan 20--China, the world’s biggest steel producer, boosted output by 9.3 percent to a record in 2010, driven by demand from automakers and railway builders.
Crude-steel production rose to 627 million metric tons last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.
Output gained even as the government moved to rein in property speculation from April and cut power supplies to mills in the fourth quarter. Output fell every month from June through September, Bloomberg data shows. Still, economic stimulus policies and rising incomes spurred vehicle sales, boosting demand for steel used in automotive body sheets and parts. China also spent about 700 billion yuan （$106 billion） on railroads.
“Steelmakers were producing at full capacity in the first half of last year, sending output to a new record,” said Hu Yanping, a Beijing-based analyst with researcher UC361.com. “This quarter, steel production may further rise with restored power supplies. The increasing supply of social housing and development of machinery will drive growth of steel demand.”
The government plans to almost double the 2011 supply of affordable housing from 5.8 million units in 2010 as it introduces more measures to curb property speculation, Premier Wen Jiabao said in a radio broadcast on Dec. 26.
Crude steel output rose 6.3 percent to 51.5 million tons in December from a year ago, the statistics bureau said today. This was 2.6 percent higher than 50.2 million tons in November.
Benchmark Chinese steel prices have risen to 4,796 yuan a ton as of yesterday, the highest since Sept. 26, 2008, according to the Beijing Antaike Information Development Co.
China’s steel output may increase to 661 million metric tons this year, UBS AG Analyst Hubert Tang said at a media briefing in Shanghai this week. China’s steel demand may peak at 744 million tons in 2015, Tang said.
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