Steel demand to increase in 2013

China's steel demand will rise 3.1 percent in 2013 as the government's measures to stabilize growth pick up steam, the China Iron and Steel Association, or CISA, said in a statement on its website on Jan 21.

Iron and steel demand this year will be better than last year but prices will not improve significantly due to overcapacity and oversupply, the statement said.

Steel prices climbed for three consecutive weeks in January. By the third week of January, steel prices had reached its peak since the second half of 2012.

China's crude steel output in 2012 was 720 million tons, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said.