August crude steel output falls, dragging coal down with it

China’s industrial commodities are feeling the bite from slowing industry: Crude steel output for August fell 3.5% year-on-year to 66.94 million tons resulting in a 6.6% drop for production of coking coal during the same period, contributing to a 2.6% drop in total raw coal output, Reuters reported. Qiu Yuecheng, analyst with the steel trading platform Xiben New Line E-Commerce, said that demand for some commodities, such as steel, could pick up in the second half of the year, “but with the overall economy facing pretty big downward pressures and funds still tightening, the scale of the recovery will be limited.”