China Jan-Feb steel output rises 3.1% despite coronavirus disruptions

[BEIJING] China's steel output rose 3.1 per cent in the first two months of 2020 from the same period a year earlier, even as inventories piled up, as mills placed bets on demand recovering quickly as China's coronavirus epidemic shows signs of receding.

Total crude steel output for January and February climbed to 154.7 million tonnes, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The bureau does not break out figures for January and February separately due to the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which this year fell in late January before being extended in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.

Average daily output was at 2.58 million tonnes, down from 2.72 million tonnes in December and compared with 2.54 million tonnes in the same period a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations. The two-month period was a day longer than 2019 as 2020 is a leap year.

Output gained this year even as manufacturing and construction activity was largely halted from late January as China struggled to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 3,000 people in the country.

Steel products inventory - held by mills and traders across the country - have piled up to a record with demand from end-users curtailed.

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REUTERS