需求驟降 中國鋼材跌至白菜價
Plunging demand for steel in China has pushed prices in some markets as low as the cost of cabbage, as worries mount that annual steel consumption may shrink for the first time in 19 years.
中國的鋼鐵需求驟降，致使某些市場的鋼鐵價格跌至白菜價，人們日益擔憂鋼鐵年消費量可能出現19年以來首次下降。Some grades of rebar, a steel product used in construction, fell to Rmb2,600 ($419) a tonne in northern Chinese markets this week, according to prices on industry website Steelhome – equivalent to the retail price of cabbage.
根據行業網站“鋼之家”(Steelhome)的數據，某些等級的螺紋鋼（建築用鋼材）本週在華北市場跌至每噸2600元人民幣（合419美元），相當於白菜的零售價。
Chinese steel consumption has been bolstered for years by the boom in demand for the refrigerators, supermarkets, train wagons and greenhouses that now allow Beijingers to enjoy green vegetables all winter long. But that demand is falling sharply as China’s economic growth peaks.
多年來，中國的鋼鐵消費量因對冰箱、超市、火車車皮和溫室的需求旺盛而一路走高，這些東西使北京市民現在整個冬天都能吃上新鮮的綠色蔬菜。但隨着中國經濟增長見頂，鋼鐵需求正大幅下滑。
Meanwhile, cabbage is not the ubiquitous product it once was. Trucks laden with the vegetable no longer lumber into Beijing in the crisp autumn days and few residents stack them in their stairwells in preparation for the winter.
同時，白菜不再像過去那樣無處不在了。載滿白菜的卡車不再在涼爽的秋日裏慢慢駛入北京，也沒有多少居民在樓道里堆滿白菜預備過冬了。The drop in steel demand “is a long-term trend”, said Li Xinchuang of the China Iron and Steel Association, which represents the nation’s largest mills. Association data show steel consumption dropped in July and August compared with the previous year. Mr Li said the decline continued in September.
代表中國各大鋼廠的中國鋼鐵工業協會(China Iron and Steel Association)的李新創說，鋼鐵需求下降“是長期趨勢”。該協會的數據顯示，鋼鐵消費量在7月和8月出現了同比下降。李新創表示，9月鋼鐵需求繼續出現下降。The fall in steel consumption in the third quarter largely reflects slower housing construction. A similar drop this quarter would make 2014 the first year consumption has shrunk since 1995, when the Chinese economy was recovering from a bout of inflation.
第3季度鋼鐵消費量出現下降，基本上反映了房地產建設放緩的跡象。如果第4季度再出現類似的下降，2014年將成爲1995年以來首個全年鋼鐵消費量下滑的年份（1995年中國經濟處於一輪通脹後的恢復期）。“All the indicators we look at show the fourth-quarter economic recovery is unlikely to be strong,” said Song Chunlei, vice-director of steel consultancy LGMI in Beijing.
“所有指標表明，第四季度的經濟復甦不太可能表現強勁，”北京鋼鐵行業諮詢公司蘭格鋼鐵(LGMI)副總經理宋春雷說。
