In November this year, the purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the steel sector in China’s Hebei Province decreased to 44.5 percent, down 6.2 percentage points month on month, below 50 percent, as announced by the Hebei Province Metallurgical Industry Association (MIA). In the given month, the trend of the PMI for the steel sector in Hebei Province was the same as that for the whole of China, which decreased by 4.0 percentage points month on month to 50.6 percent, as announced by the China Steel Logistics Committee (CSLC).
In November, the overall new order index for Hebei Province’s steel sector decreased to 43.9 percent, down 9.8 percentage points compared to the previous month.
In the given month, the new export order index for Hebei Province’s steel sector decreased to 42.9 percent, down 9.5 percentage points month on month.
In the given month, the production index for Hebei Province’s steel sector declined to 42.9 percent, down 10.8 percentage points month on month.
At the same time, the inventory index for finished steel in Hebei Province increased to 55.1 percent, up 12.8 percentage points month on month.
In November, the inventory index for raw materials in Hebei Province stood at 44.1 percent, up 3.6 percentage points month on month.
The ex-works price index for finished steel stood at 26.8 percent, down 31.7 percentage points month on month.
In November, the purchasing price index for raw materials stood at 44.1 percent, down 19.0 percentage points from October.
Steel prices in Hebei Province are expected to move down in December as the demand for finished steel will gradually slacken in the traditional offseason, though production halts for the purpose of environmental protection and the relatively high prices of raw materials will provide some support for finished steel prices.