In recent years, China's steel industry has been confronted with a host of challenges, including the continuous expansion of total national steel capacity, persistently high industry leverage ratios, mounting risks of capital chain rupture, intensifying environmental protection pressure on steel enterprises, worsening supply-demand contradictions in the steel product market, enterprises' lack of incentive to cut production, as well as the fact that the decline in iron ore prices has been far narrower than that in steel product prices. In April, the national crude steel output reached 68.91 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 0.7%, compared with a 2.1% growth in the same period of last year; the output of steel products increased by 3.4%, a year-on-year slowdown of 0.2 percentage points. Coke output dropped by 3.4%, with the year-on-year decline widening by 0.2 percentage points. Ferroalloy output fell by 3.9%, in contrast to an 8% growth in the same period last year. Steel product exports stood at 8.54 million tons, an increase of 0.84 million tons from the previous month; imports totaled 1.20 million tons, a decrease of 0.01 million tons from the previous month. Coke exports reached 0.71 million tons, an increase of 0.03 million tons from the previous month. From January to April, the national crude steel output amounted to 270.07 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.3%, compared with a 2.7% growth in the same period of last year; the output of steel products reached 361.09 million tons, an increase of 2.1%, a year-on-year slowdown of 3.8 percentage points. Coke output hit 150.12 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%, with the decline widening by 1.1 percentage points compared with the same period last year. Ferroalloy output reached 11.05 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 4.5%, in contrast to a 9.2% growth in the same period last year. Steel product exports reached 34.31 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 32.7%; imports totaled 4.43 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 9.5%. Iron ore imports stood at 307.25 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%. Coke exports reached 3.02 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 25.4%. Steel product prices continued to decline. In April, the domestic composite steel price index averaged 73.99 points, a decrease of 0.68 points from the previous month and 21.76 points year-on-year. The average price of 6.5mm high-speed wire rod was RMB 2,568 per ton, an increase of RMB 2.9 per ton from the previous month but a year-on-year decrease of 24.2%; the average prices of 20mm medium plate and 1.0mm cold-rolled coil were RMB 2,579 per ton and RMB 3,333 per ton respectively, down RMB 40.2 per ton and RMB 155.5 per ton from the previous month, and year-on-year decreases of 26.9% and 21.8% respectively. From January to April, the steel industry achieved a total profit of RMB 25.66 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 35.5%. Among this total, the profit of ferrous metal ore mining and dressing industry reached RMB 11.03 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 49.6%; the profit of steel smelting and processing industry (excluding ferrous metal casting) stood at RMB 14.94 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7%. For more relevant industry data, please refer to the Steel Industry Market Survey and Analysis Report released by China Report Hall.