The trade volume from January to May totaled 172 billion yuan ($24.3 billion), an increase of 21.1 percent over the same period last year.

Oversupply concerns weigh heavily on the steel sector in China as some 80 million metric tons of fresh capacity will hit the market this year amid dwindling demand due to the COVID-19 epidemic, an industry expert said.

Rail freight of coal and ore also posted robust year-on-year growth in the first half of this year in Xinjiang.

During the covid-19 epidemic, the export growth of steel and iron ore was significantly higher than that of automobile.

The overall ferrosilicon futures market rose slightly (the last trading day fell slightly), and the spot market was stable.

Information from the RBA's capex survey and the bank's liaison programme indicate that investment is expected to increase slightly over the year ahead as work on iron ore and coal projects increase.

The 2010 ferrosilicon contract price on ZCE closed at 5710 yuan per ton on August 14.

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