According to latest figures from National Bureau of Statistics of China, China's crude steel production for October 2008 dropped by 17% YoY to 35.9 million tonnes. Crude steel output for the first 10 months of 2008, however, totaled 427.29 million tonnes, up by 3.9% YoY.

Steel products output for October 2008 reached 42.93 million tonnes, down by 12.4% YoY. Steel products output over January to October 2008 totaled 487.91 million tonnes, up by 5.9% YoY.

China also produced 34.13 million tonnes of pig iron in October 2008, down by 16.8% YoY. Pig iron production in the 10 month period totaled 399.48 million tonnes, up by 2.5% YoY.

In October 2008, China produced 67.85 million tonnes of iron ore, up by 12.5% YoY. The country's total iron ore output for January to October 2008 period was 654.18 million tonnes, up by 18.8% YoY.

Meanwhile, China produced 730,300 units of automobiles in October 2008, down by 0.7% YoY. China produced 8.22 million units of automobiles in January to October 2008 period, up by 12.4% YoY.

information from www.steelguru.com