China's crude steel output increased by 9.9% in the first quarter.

The data shows that in the first quarter, China's productionof pig iron, crude steel and steel (including recycled materials) were 195million tons, 231 million tons and 269 million tons respectively, up 9.3%, 9.9%and 10.8% respectively. Among them, the output of pig iron, crude steel andsteel products of key large and medium-sized enterprises were 157 million tons,173 million tons and 161 million tons, respectively, up 6.9%, 7.3% and 6.0%respectively.