China's National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP) have issued the purchase managers index (PMI) of the domestic steel industry for the month of July. Accordingly, the PMI for July was at 44.5 percent, down 4.7 percentage points compared to the previous month.
In July, the new order index was at 33.3 percent, down 13 percentage points compared to June and hitting the lowest level since December 2008, reflecting the sluggishness of the market and the current off-season.
Also in July, the new export order component of the steel industry PMI was at 32.4 percent, down 15.2 percentage points month on month, falling to the lowest level of the past four years.
The CFLP stated that, after the sharp decline in July, domestic finished steel prices are at their lowest levels of the past two and a half years and that there is limited room for further declines in prices