According to a new report issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in the 2011-2015 period China produced 3.8 billion mt of crude steel, satisfying the demand coming from 65 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth and 128 percent fixed asset investment (FAI) growth in China in the given period.
In 2015, China’s crude steel output amounted to 804 million mt, down 2.33 percent year on year, while domestic steel pipe and steel plate outputs increased by 10.98 percent and 2.50 percent year on year, respectively. In particular, in the given year cold rolled sheet and galvanized sheet outputs rose by 6.49 percent and 2.67 percent on year-on-year basis, respectively. The reduced crude steel output and the increases in high-end steel product outputs in China indicate optimization of product structure to some degree.
As indicated by the CISA, in 2015 China’s finished steel exports amounted to 112 million mt, up 19.9 percent year on year, equivalent to 103 million mt of crude steel, accounting for 12.81 percent of China’s total crude steel output in the given year. Meanwhile, China’s apparent consumption of crude steel in 2015 amounted to 704 million mt, accounting for 43.2 percent of aggregate global crude steel output, with China remaining the largest steel consuming market in the world. The CISA said that China would continue to see stable domestic steel demand at relatively high levels, adding that the prospects for the domestic steel market are promising amid the unbalanced levels of economic development in the different regions in China and expectations of medium-to-high economic growth in China.