China’s steel output continued to grow, with prices picking up as global recovery and a firming domestic economy combined to drive up demand, Xinhua News Agency reports.

China’s steel price index reached 116.62 in November, up 0.92% from the previous month, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission.

In the first 11 months of 2017, crude steel production rose 5.7 % to 764.8 million tons. Full-year production is expected to top 832 million tons.

The news comes amid reports of rising steel fastener exports from China, which exported 2.36 million tons of fasteners during the first 10 months of 2017, according to Customs data compiled by ChinaFastener.Info. The export value topped $4.02 billion during the period.

The top five fastener export destinations were the U.S. (474,195,000 kg valued at $822.2 million); Japan (115,376,458 kg valued at $228.4 million); Russia (191,862,623 kg valued at $220.3 million); Germany (94,677,086 kg valued at $163.1 million); and South Korea (97,501,580 kg valued at $143.4 million), ChinaFastener.Info reports.