China's crude steel output rose 9.6 per cent in the first half of 2008, to 263 million tonnes, industry website Umetal has said, implying that June output hit a fresh monthly record.
Umetal did not provide a breakdown for the monthly data, but the first half figure implies that June output topped May's record production of 46.01 million tonnes.
Production is likely to fall beginning in July, as closures for the Beijing Olympics dent national output.
Steel products output rose 12.5 per cent in the first half to 300 million tonnes, it said.
China produced 216.11 million tonnes of crude steel in the first five months of 2008, according to preliminary statistics released last month. Official statistics for June are due on Friday.
Many Chinese steel mills, especially in northern areas around Beijing, ran at high rates in the first half of this year to build stocks in case they were forced to close to reduce pollution during the Olympics in August.
Beijing has ordered heavy producers in provinces around Beijing to close plants that cannot meet emissions standards, to help clear the air.
Nineteen blast furnaces with a combined monthly output of 450,000 tonnes, or just over 1 per cent of national output, have already gone cold in Tangshan, an area east of Beijing that accounts for about 10 per cent of China's steel production.
As of the end of June, Tangshan identified 66 steel mills and 12 coking plants that would have to shut in early July, the China Securities Journal reported on Thursday.
Source: Business Spectator
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