From January to September 2019, the country's crude steel output continued to grow, but due to changes in market supply and demand conditions and changes in raw fuel prices, the efficiency of steel companies fell compared with the same period last year. The basic situation of the operation of the steel industry is as follows.

(1) Crude steel production maintained growth. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the output of pig iron, crude steel and steel in the country from January to September was 61.203 million tons, 74.782 million tons and 909.31 million tons, respectively, up 6.3%, 8.4% and 10.6% respectively.

(2) Steel exports continued to decline. According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, from January to September, the country exported a total of 50.305 million tons of steel, down 5.0% year-on-year; the cumulative import of steel products was 8.751 million tons, down 12.2% year-on-year.

(3) Steel prices fluctuate downward. According to the China Iron and Steel Association, the average China steel price index for January-September was 108.58 points, down 7.17 points year on year, or 6.2%. Since the beginning of May this year, the China Steel Price Composite Index has been oscillating downwards, rising by 1.3% from the end of September, but still down 12.8% year-on-year.

(4) The company's efficiency decreased year-on-year. From January to September, members of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association achieved sales revenue of 3.18 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%; realized profits of 146.6 billion yuan, down 32.0% year-on-year; sales profit margin was 4.6%, down 3.0 percentage points from the same period of the previous year.

(5) The overall inventory of steel products has decreased. The social stocks of five kinds of steel (rebar, wire, hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil, medium and heavy plate) in major cities across the country reached a peak of 16.45 million tons at the end of February, and fell to 12.19 million tons at the end of June, after which it fluctuated slightly. After the recovery, by the end of September, the social inventory was 13.31 million tons, a decrease of 5.1% from the previous month.

(6) Imported ore prices fell back. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, imported iron ore from January to September was 784 million tons, down 2.4% year-on-year. Imported iron ore prices reached a peak of 119.51 US dollars / ton in the first two years in early July. Due to factors such as the increase in iron ore supply and the slowdown in steel production growth, the price of imported iron ore fell back. At the end of September, the price of imported iron ore was 91.4 US dollars. / ton, still at a high level.