China slows sharply as steel boom goes nuclear

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China released its May data dump today and growth is slowing sharply. All measures missed expectations with industrial production at 6.8%, fixed asset investment at all time lows of 6.1% and retail sales likewise weak at 8.5%:

But under the bonnet, the crucial real estate/steel complex is absolutely booming. Floor area sales rebounded to be up 2.9% year to date though will likely keep falling with credit:

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New starts printed the largest May on record:

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.