China 2019 crude steel output jumps 8.3%, sets second straight annual record
BEIJING (Reuters) - Crude steel production in China climbed to a record just shy of 1 billion tonnes in 2019, boosted by a resilient property market and robust demand as Beijing beefed up infrastructure spending in a bid to weather a slowdown in economic growth.
The world’s biggest steelmaker churned out 996.34 million tonnes of crude steel in 2019, up 8.3% from 2018’s previous record, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.
In December, China’s steel production surged 12% year-on-year to 84.27 million tonnes, the highest since August, according to the statistics bureau. December’s average daily output was up 1.5% from November at 2.72 million tonnes, according to a Reuters calculation based on official data.
Steel demand in China stayed firm in 2019 despite the world’s second-largest economy coming under pressure from slowing domestic growth and a bitter trade war with the United States.
