In pictures: Despite glut, China's steel producers roll on
A labourer walks on coils of steel wire at a steel market in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China. Slowing construction and industrial activity has hit Chinese steel demand and prices hard in the past few weeks.SHENG LI/Reuters
Labourers work at a steel factory in Dalian, Liaoning province. Some steel products in China are being sold below cost after a four-month market slump.CHINA DAILY/Reuters
A labourer unloads coils of steel wire from a truck at a steel wholesale market in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Prices for iron ore, a key ingredient of steel, rose after Beijing’s recent approval of more than $150-billion in infrastructure projects, but many traders believe the boost will be temporary.SHENG LI/Reuters
A labourer works at a workshop of Maanshan Iron and Steel factory in Hefei, Anhui province.JIANAN YU/Reuters
An employee checks products at a workshop of Kunming Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. in Kunming, Yunnan province, in this June 16, 2008 file photo. China's steel mills expanded ferociously after market reforms began in 1978, and it now produces 45 per cent of the world's steel and hosts six of the world's ten biggest producers.STRINGER/CHINA/Reuters
An employee checks on a product at a steel production factory in Wuhan, Hubei province Aug. 2, 2012. An obsession with size and technological advance in China’s steel industry has saddled it with a profit-sapping surplus of high-end capacity and heavy debt.DARLEY SHEN/Reuters
Labourers work at a coking plant of a steel factory in Hefei, Anhui province, Aug. 25, 2012.JIANAN YU/Reuters
A labourer uses a stick to arrange newly produced reinforcing steel rings at a steel and iron factory in Changzhi, Shanxi province in this March 24, 2012 file photo.STRINGER/CHINA/Reuters
A labourer works on coils of steel wire at a steel wholesale market in Beijing Jan. 17, 2012. Russian and Ukrainian producers are among the worst hit by China’s low-priced exports, since they mainly produce basic grades of steel that compete directly with Chinese products.ZHEYANG SOOHOO/Reuters
An employee walks past columns of steel at a production factory in Wuhan, Hubei province.DARLEY SHEN/Reuters
A labourer cycles past coils of steel wire at a steel wholesale market in Shenyang, Liaoning province, June 26, 2012. Analysts and traders predict that steel prices will not improve until China cuts current production rates.SHENG LI/Reuters