Crude steel output at 157.96 mln T vs 174.99 mln T year earlier
Average daily output at 2.68 mln T in Jan-Feb vs 2.78 mln T in Dec
Steel demand seen to further improve amid economic stimulus
BEIJING, March 15 (Reuters) - China's crude steel output fell 10% in the first two months of 2022 from the corresponding period a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, as environmental curbs dampened overall production.
The world's top steel producer churned out 157.96 million tonnes of the metal in January and February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
The bureau combines data for the two months because of the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in early February this year.
Average daily output stood at 2.68 million tonnes, falling from a daily average of 2.78 million a month earlier and was down 8.8% from 2.94 million in Jan-Feb 2021, according to Reuters calculations based on the NBS data.
Steel production in the first two months stayed relatively low because of environment-related controls during the heating season and the Beijing Winter Olympics. The curbs were expected to continue till mid-March.
While Beijing has not yet announced output targets for 2022, the industry expects production constraints could remain.
However, steel consumption is still expected to be supported as an ambitious target for economic growth brightens the downstream outlook for the industrial metal, and the state planner had said it wants to advance infrastructure investment in the first quarter to stabilise the economy.
"Supportive economic policies and easing controls on housing and infrastructure investments in China bode well for the steel sector," Daniel Hynes of ANZ Research said in a note before the release.
Prices of construction steel rebar futures SRBcv1 have jumped 11% this year, and hot rolled coils SHHCcv1 used in the manufacturing sector have gained more than 13%.