Reuters reported that China's steel consumption dropped this year for the first time since at least 2000 due to slower economic growth

Mr Wang Xiaoqi, vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association said that “Apparent crude steel consumption in China, the world's top consumer and producer of the alloy, fell 1.9% on year to 61.9 million tonnes in August. There are many reasons for this - the economy slowing and the economy undergoing restructuring. Steel consuming sectors have cut their demand.”

Mr Wang said that “With China now focusing growth on consumption and away from investment that has fuelled years of massive expansion in China's steel sector. From now, domestic steel output and consumption won't rise along with economic growth. China's steel consumption dropped 0.3% to 500 million tonnes in the first eight months of the year.”

Mr Wang expects crude steel output to hit 826 million tonnes this year, up 6%from 2013, with the production pace slowing for the remaining months. China's steel output grew 7.5% to 779 million tonnes last year.

China's economy got off to a weak start this year as Q1 growth cooled to a six quarter low of 7.4%. Beijing responded with a flurry of stimulus measures that pushed the pace up slightly to 7.5% in the Q2 but soft July and August data suggest the boost is rapidly waning.