By Ruby Lian and Fayen Wong

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - China's daily crude steel output

slipped 0.5 percent between Dec. 21-31 from the preceding 10

days, the third consecutive fall during the month as steel mills

curbed output amid slowing demand, data from an industry portal

showed on Wednesday.

The average daily crude steel output in the world's largest

steel producer fell to 1.901 million tonnes between Dec. 21-31,

the lowest level since end-September, industry website

Custeel.com said, citing data from the China Iron & Steel

Association.

For CISA's steel output report, click on

Demand for some steel products traditionally declines during

winter months as construction activity, particularly in northern

regions, is dampened by cold weather, hitting consumption of

long products including rebar and wire rod.

Some analysts said the output number was severely

underestimated, however, as large steel mills, producing flat

steel products for manufacturing, did not slash output.

'There was little chance that steel mills would give up the

opportunity to raise output when steel prices rose,' said Cheng

Xubao, an analyst with Custeel.

Spot prices of hot-rolled coil, used in manufacturing, have

risen about 23 percent since early September. The price of

rebar, mainly used in construction, climbed only 6 percent since

early September, according to Xiben New Line Co Ltd, a spot

steel trading platform in Shanghai.

The utilization rate of 146 blast furnaces in Tangshan city,

Hebei province in northern China, was 98.3 percent in December

from 91.6 percent in October, Custeel data showed.

CISA estimated the country's total production based on its

members, which comprise nearly 80 large steel mills that account

for about 80 percent of China's total steel output.

The following table shows changes in daily output since the

beginning of the year.

Period Daily Change

output (pct)

(mln T)

Dec 21-31 1.901 -0.5

Dec 11-20 1.911 -1.75

Dec 1-10 1.945 -0.76

Nov 21-30 1.960 +0.4

Nov 11-20 1.952 -0.25

Nov 1-10 1.957 +1.6

Oct 21-31 1.926 -3.7

Oct 11-20 1.999 +4.3

Oct 1-10 1.916 +4.0

Sept 21-30 1.843 -0.7

Sept 11-20 1.857 -2.0

Sept 1-10 1.895 +1.2

Aug 21-31 1.872 -3.1

Aug 11-20 1.930 -2.0

Aug 1-10 1.970 +1.1

July 21-31 1.949 -2.2

July 11-20 1.993 +1.8

July 1-10 1.958 -0.4

Jun 21-30 1.965 -0.3

Jun 11-20 1.971 -1.4

Jun 1-10 1.999 +2.0

May 21-31 1.960 -3.9

May 11-20 2.040 -0.3

May 1-10 2.045 +0.5

Apr 21-30 2.035 +1.5

Apr 11-20 2.005 -1.3

Apr 1-10 2.031 +7.4

Mar 21-31 1.890 -1.5

Mar 11-20 1.919 +1.1

Mar 1-10 1.898 +13

Feb 21-29 1.679 -1.2

Feb 11-20 1.699 +0.2

Feb 1-10 1.696* +1.3

Jan 21-31 1.673 +0.2

Jan 11-20 1.669 -1.3

Jan 1-10 1.691 +3.9

* CISA revised Feb 1-10 output to 1.696 million tonnes from

1.705 million tonnes

Compiled by Reuters

(Editing by Joseph Radford)

Keywords: CHINA CISA/STEEL

(fayen.wong@thomsonreuters.com)(+86 21 6104 1779)(Reuters Messaging: fayen.wong.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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