China's crude steel output down in November

China's crude steel output dropped 0.2 percent year on year in November, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, announced Saturday.

The drop compared with an increase of 4.2 percent reported in November 2013.

In the first 11 months of 2014, crude steel production rose by 1.9 percent to 748.67 million tonnes, 5.9 percentage points slower than the same period last year.

The composite price index for domestic steel products stood at 85.83 points in November, down by 0.52 points from October and by 13.83 points from November 2013.

Combined profits in the industry dropped by 8.2 percent from the previous year to 145 billion yuan (23.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months.

The weak data came amid indicators of lackluster economic activity. The economy expanded by 7.3 percent in the third quarter of this year, the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2009.