Hebei's steel PMI stays in contraction in Oct

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the steel industry in North China's Hebei province, the country's top steel production base, inched up by 0.1 percentage point on month during October to sit at 48.8%, still below the threshold of 50 connoting contraction, according to the latest data released by the Hebei Metallurgical Industry Association.

The index was 0.4 percentage point lower than China's national steel PMI released by the CFLP Steel Logistics Professional Committee, which climbed by 1.5 percentage points on month to register 49.2% in October, as Mysteel Global reported. The underperformance of steel markets overall last month led construction firms to reduce their procurement of steel items, with the sub-index for new orders received by Hebei's