China’s steel output outlook looks bleak: China’s steel production dropped 9.5% m-o-m to 82.94 mn metric tons in July and is expected to continue to decline in the coming month as demand slows and government operational guidance limits production, Reuters reported yesterday, citing official data by the Chinese government. The government has encouraged an informal cap on production to cut down on carbon emissions.

A silver lining: Although the nation’s production was down 2.2% y-o-y to 613.7 mn tons in the first seven months of this year, steel exports were up 21.8% y-o-y, reaching 61.23 mn tons.

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MEANWHILE- Suspected toxic waste returning to Europe: German shipping giant Maersk is returning to Europe hundreds of tons of alleged industrial waste it had picked up from Albania and sailed to Southeast Asia, Bloomberg reported. Albanian officials have said they are investigating how 800 tons of suspected industrial waste were shipped from its port without authorization. The shipping outfit is currently working with Singaporean authorities and MSC to return the cargo to Albania.

Where is the waste coming from? The waste is suspected to have come from international companies operating near a metallurgical complex in Elbasan in Albania.

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