The supply factor

摘要

The development has been the culmination of a period of rising imports, rising production and rising distribution stocks. Domestic steelmakers emphasise the role of imports of finished products, but their own high operating rate and high rate of import of semis have contributed. Total imports (all categories of steel) during the first seven months this year were 21.5 m tonnes, of which carbon steel products amounted to 18-19m tonnes, an increase of around 20 percent over the same period in 1999. Semis imports rose faster than this in the early months of this year, but by July had settled down to much the same rate.