SHANGHAI - CHINA has told banks to curb loans to steel makers that are increasing production despite falling demand and falling prices, state media reported on Thursday.
Beijing issued the order to cut or stop lending to steel producers 'still expanding production capacity without considering actual market demand", the China Securities Journal reported, citing an official notice.
The notice, which was not released publicly, also called for banks to curb or cut off loans to mills with outdated technology, the report added.
In addition, it told iron ore importers to 'correctly control the volume and pace of iron ore imports in line with the actual demand of domestic steel production'.
China, the world's biggest steel producer and consumer, imported 188.5 million tonnes of iron ore in the first four months of the year, up 22.9 per cent from a year earlier, according to customs data.
State media reported on Thursday the China Iron and Steel Association planned to investigate surging imports after April iron ore coming into China jumped 33 per cent on year, hitting a monthly record of 57 million tonnes.
'Amid the weakness in the domestic steel market, the imports in April were more than double the normal demand,' the Shanghai Securities News reported, citing Shan Shanghua, secretary general of the industry group.
At the end of March, the composite price index of China's steel market was 97.59 points, 31.4 per cent lower than a year earlier, the association said in late April.
Overall, domestic steel prices have been falling continuously and are currently lower than 1994 levels.
China's demand for steel has seen a mild recovery thanks to relaxed monetary policies and Beijing's economic stimulus plans, but some makers boosted production hoping demand would soon soar again, the reports said. The World Steel Association has forecast China's apparent steel demand is likely to fall five percent in 2009 as the ongoing global economic crisis hits the country's exports. -- AFP
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Money/Story/STIStory_376688.html
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