At the recent 13th Member Conference of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) held in Beijing, Zhao Minge, president of CISA and chairman of Shougang Group, stated that in 2025 China’s steel industry presented the following five main features: a strong supply and weak demand pattern persisted, with supply-demand contradictions remaining prominent; steel exports hit a record new high while imports continued to decline; steel prices decreased year on year, with narrowed ranges of fluctuation; total profits increased year on year, while operational quality and efficiency improved; and environmental indicators continued to improve, with notable achievements in environmental governance.
In 2025, China’s crude steel output amounted to 960.812 million mt, down 4.4 percent year on year, while its steel exports totaled 119 million mt, up 7.5 percent year on year.
Zhao Minge stressed that the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) is a critical stage for the steel industry to accelerate the building of a modern industrial system. The steel industry will face changes including prominent supply-demand imbalances, relatively low industrial concentration, weak resource security, increasing pressure on profits, and a severe trade environment.
With 2026 being the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the CISA president urged steelmakers in China to persist in reforming and tackling hard issues to enhance development momentum; to persist in innovation-driven growth to cultivate new quality productive forces; to persist in "dual carbon" leadership to accelerate green transformation; to persist in digital empowerment to promote industrial upgrading; to persist in integrated coordination to foster coupled development; to persist in opening up to deepen international cooperation; and to persist in talent foundation-building to serve enterprise development needs.
Zhao Minge suggested that China’s steelmakers should control total crude steel outputs, optimize supply, promote the stable development of the steel industry, increase their efficiency, and drive sectoral transformation.
As for the forecast for the future, he said the steel industry will advance toward the goal of fully establishing itself by 2030 as a sector with significant global influence, strong industrial independence, and a high development contribution to the overall economy.
