Corus left shoulder or the foothills?

China's Jan-Nov crude steel output up 25.5 pct at 317.65 mln tons
Source: AFX

China's crude steel output rose 25.5 pct year-on-year to 317.65 mln tons in the first 11 months of the year, and is expected to top 340 mln tons for the full year, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The agency, citing statistics from the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), said China will become the first country in the world to produce more than 300 mln tons of crude steel.

Xinhua quoted Shan Shanghua, director of the China Metallurgical Industrial Planning & Research Institute, as saying China still has spare capacity to boost production further.

Shan expects China's steel output to hit 400 mln tons by 2010.

The CISA figures also show China produced a total of 335.25 mln tons of steel products in the January-November period, up 24.6 pct from a year earlier, and the country's pig iron output increased 29.4 pct to 298.51 mln tons.