China 2011 crude steel output to hit record 660mln T

China 2011 crude steel output to hit record 660mln T. China, the world's largest steel producer, is expected to generate a record of 660 million tonnes of crude steel this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MITT) said on Wednesday. Despite rising production and prices, the steel sector's profits will remain below those of other domestic industries, the ministry said in a statement. "The double-whammy of surging raw materials cost and continuously volatile steel prices will lead to lower profit margins in the domestic steel sector than other industries," it said. Demand from downstream sectors, including construction, machinery, home appliances and shipbuilding, will keep growing this year, prompting the steel industry to ramp up production to new records. But exports will remain weak due to fierce competitiveness from other world producers. China produced a record of 626.7 million tonnes of crude steel last year, but production cost for medium- and large-sized steel mills surged 30.7 percent last year from 2009, seriously eroding steel mills' margins. Data from the China Iron & Steel Association showed that the country produced a daily average of 1.703 million tonnes of crude steel in January. The ministry said iron ore imports would remain around 600 million tonnes this year, after the top consumer imported 619 million tonnes of the material last year. It also warned that net steel exports would hold steady to last year's level, and apparent consumption of crude steel would rise 5 percent to 630 million tonnes from a year earlier.