China’s crude steel production hit a four year low in the March quarter, despite a rebound in output in March.
Figures produced on Friday showed China produced 70.65 million tonnes of crude steel in March, up 2.9%.
It was also up sharply from the 58.5 million tonnes produced in holiday-hit February and 62.55 million tonnes for January.
China produced 192.01 million tonnes of crude steel in the first quarter, down 3.2% from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
But that was also lower than the production in the March quarter of 2014 and was in fact the lowest since the 173.2 million tonnes produced in the first three months of 2012.
The rise in steel production has helped drive an iron ore price surge of about 55 per cent since the six-year lows of $US38.30 a tonne on December 11 last year. The iron ore spot price is nearly $US60 a tonne -up close to 40% so far this year alone.
The jump last week has boosted the share prices of big miners – BHP Billiton shares surged 19.2% last week to close at $19.28 on Friday, Rio Tinto added 11.4% to end at $48.20.
Fortescue Metals Group shares jumped 14%, even after the 4.7% slide, to $3.04 on Friday.
The March surge and other data confirm that without the boost to stimulatory spending and housing this year, the Chinese economy would have struggled even more than the weakish GDP number suggests.
China’s growth dipped to 6.7% in the first quarter, the lowest for seven years, despite the stepped up government spending.
Other figures released alongside quarterly GDP show China’s industrial production, fixed asset investment and retail sales all rose in March. Industrial production rose 6.8% in March, bringing year-to-date growth to 5.8%, up from a 5.4% pace in February.
Retail rose by 10.5% from March 2015, and 10.35 for the first three months of the year, slightly better than market forecasts.
Fixed asset investment in urban China rose 10.7% in March for the year to date, up from 10.2% in February.
Property investment grew at 6.2% in March, the fastest pace in a year. Friday’s data showed property sales soaring 33.1% in floor-area terms in the first three months of this year.
House price data will be issued later today for March and the first three months of the year.
