According to data released by China Steel Logistics Professional Committee of CFLP, the purchasing manager's index of Chinese steel sector rose 8.4 percentage points from a month earlier to 52.6% in April, the first reading above 50% since September last year.

Both new orders and new export orders subindices reached above the 50% level and purchasing price index saw a big rebound from low level, showing signs of a recovery in China's steel market which remained in recession for a long period of time.

Data also showed that the steel industry production index expanded to 53.0% last month after remaining below 50% for six months in a row, up 13.3 percentage points from March and both purchasing volume and raw material inventory subindices saw a pick up in April.

An industry analyst said that many steel mills resumed operations on improved profitability driven by a rapid rebound in steel prices in early April, which led to further rises in steel production.

It's noteworthy that the purchasing price index jumped 17.3 percentage points to 46.1% in April from March but still stayed below the 50% level, a signal that the raw material market continued running at low level and thus there is lack of cost support for the steel market.

The analyst also said that the fundamentals of China steel market remains weak, but market demand is expected to increase on the back of the implementation of government measures to maintain stable economic growth and speed-up of construction of a series of infrastructure and livelihood projects.