Steel sector challenged by oversupply, rising costs.

China's medium and large iron and steel manufacturers are facing tough times this year, squeezed by market oversupply and increased production costs, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said Friday. China's crude steel output in the first three quarters of the year increased 12.74 percent to 474.53 million tonnes, CISA said in a report on its website. Crude steel output per day in the nine-month period averaged 1.7382 million tonnes, equivalent to annual production of 634 million tonnes. In the period, China was a net exporter of 22.51 million tonnes of crude steel. In the same period last year, it was a net importer of 1.37 million tonnes. Inventory levels at China's 78 large- and medium-sized iron and steel companies peaked in May at 10.45 million tonnes and had dropped to 9.8 million tonnes by the end of August.

CHINA.ORG