The incredible growth in Chinese iron & steel industry
China is for sure and by far the fastest growing major economy in the world. The statistics show an average growth of 9.5% per annum since 1990. During the same period
China's industrial
production have been quadrupled! This means an annual growth of 15% on average!
Obviously the Chinese steel industry has played a huge role during this era. The steel
consumption in
China has been more than doubled since 1990, and today
China is by far the largest consumer of steel products in the world. This is a natural result of booming
investments in infrastructure which are based on metals and steel, and exports of manufactured goods. The steel
consumption in
China was estimated to be around 205 million tons in 2002.
When we look at the
production figures of Chinese steel industry it could be easily said that the changes in annual figures look incredible. The steel
production in
China was very low, even negligible, during the 1950's. It has started to increase by the 70's and since 1990 the growth in steel
production has been close to 9% per annum on average. Today,
China accounts for 20% of world's total steel
production, and by far the biggest steel producer in the world.
In 2001, the total steel output in
China has been 150'865'000 mt. There was already a difference of over 50 million tons difference between the total
production figures of
China and the second biggest steel producer in the world; i.e.
Japan.
However the new plants started
production one after the other in
China during 2002 as well. And the Chinese steel industry finished 2002 with a total steel output of 181'551'600 mt. An incredible increase of 20.34% in one single year!
The total quantity of finished steel products has turned out to be 192'183'400 mt in 2002. Almost 19% more than 2001!
Of course, the major part of the
production increase has been observed since 2000, as a result of huge
investments following the booming demand in the market.
The annual steel
production figures show the following increases for the last three years.
2000 – 130.5 million mt
2001 – 150.9 million mt
2002 – 181.6 million mt
The same period also shows an incredible increase in net imports of steel products.
2000 – 10.2 million mt
2001 – 18.0 million mt
2002 – 22.3 million mt
As mentioned above, increases in steel
production and imports are both consequences of the increase in demand.
China's annual steel
consumption was only 2 million tons in 1950 and 68 million tons in 1990. However the steel
consumption figures are as follows for the last three years.
2000 – 142 million mt
2001 – 172 million mt
2002 – 205 million mt (estimated)
Despite these figures,
China's steel
consumption per capita is still very low. The per capita steel
consumption was only a mere 120 kg in 2001, and estimated to be close to 140 kg per capita in 2002. However even that figure is quite low compared to neighbouring Asian countries like
Japan,
Taiwan,
Korea, and the other developed western countries.
The Chinese growth is projected, actually not only projected but also planned, to continue. A crisis and consequent increases in oil prices, or local political problems may slow down the growth in
China. However if all going well, the Chinese steel
consumption is expected to keep increasing as well as domestic
production.