On the 18th, the reporter learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that in 2018, China's production of pig iron, crude steel and steel (including recycled materials) were 771 million tons, 928 million tons and 1.106 billion tons respectively, up 3.0%, 6.6% and 8.5% respectively. Steel production hit a record high.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2018, China exported 69.34 million tons of steel products, down 8.1% year-on-year; the export value was 398.5 billion yuan, up 7.7% year-on-year; the average export price was 5747 yuan/ton, up 17.2% year-on-year. In 2018, China imported 13.17 million tons of steel, down 1.0% year-on-year; the import value was 108.3 billion yuan, up 5.5% year-on-year; the average price was 8225 yuan/ton, up 6.5% year-on-year. It is expected that steel exports will gradually stabilize in 2019.
Affected by factors such as supply side structure adjustment, environmental supervision, and strong market demand, steel prices have been operating at a high level in 2018. Imported iron ore prices have remained basically stable, and industry benefits have reached historically optimal levels. In 2018, the main business income of China's steel industry was 7.65 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%; the profit was 470.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.3%. Among them, the main business income of large and medium-sized steel enterprises was 4.13 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%; the profit was 286.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.1%, and the profit rate reached 6.93%. By the end of 2018, the asset-liability ratio of key large and medium-sized iron and steel enterprises was 65.02%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.6 percentage points.
