China's biggest steel industry group has urged its members to cut output by 5 percent in the last three months of this year as they seek to better balance supply and demand, hoping to stem falling prices.
China's biggest steel makers agreed at a national meeting in Beijing last Friday to set up a committee to discuss ways to counter the drop in prices, the China Iron and Steel Association said in a notice seen yesterday on its Web site.
The association noted concerns over declines that for some products have taken prices below the cost of production, especially since the beginning of this month.
"Each member, especially medium and thick plates and hot-rolled coil producers, should slash production by at least 5 percent to relieve market pressure," the association said.
Largely due to oversupply, Shanghai steel prices fell anywhere from 2 percent to 18.2 percent across a range of products in the third quarter, biting into profits.
Chinese demand has soared, with construction and manufacturing booming as the economy grows at a rate of about 9.5 percent per year.
But production has outstripped consumption in many categories. Government efforts to slow investment in major infrastructure and property projects, as well as steel mills and auto plants, have recently sapped demand.
China's output of crude steel totaled 259.4 million tonnes in the first nine months of this year, up 27 percent over the same period a year earlier, the association reported.
It said crude steel output is expected to total 339.4 million tonnes this year, up 22 percent over last year. Other estimates run as high as 396.3 million tonnes. Consumption is forecast at about 305 million tonnes.
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