China crude steel output falls

Shanghai
China's crude steel output dropped 0.8 percent in June from a year earlier, government data showed on Wednesday, with demand hit by sputtering economic growth and a property slowdown in the world's top producer.
But average daily output reached 2.298 million tonnes last month, the highest since June last year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
"The daily output was a bit surprising. Steel mills are desperate to protect their market share and maintain cash flow despite deepening losses," said Qiu Yuecheng, analyst with steel trading platform Xiben New Line E-Commerce in Shanghai. "However, the biggest concern for steel mills is steel demand is declining this year because of the slowing economy, and some will have to accelerate cuts in steel output in July." Total steel output declined 1.3 percent to 409.97 million tonnes for the first half of 2015 compared with the same period a year ago.