At 15:05 on January 18, 2026, a violent explosion occurred at the steel sheet plant operated by Chinese steelmaker Baotou Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. in the Jiuyuan district of Baotou city. The accident left two people dead, eight missing, and 84 hospitalized.
The explosion occurred at Baotou Steel’s Rare-Earth Steel Sheet Plant, which specializes in high-end rare-earth steel sheet used in railways, automobiles and pipelines.
A 650 cubic meters saturated-water/steam spherical tank exploded at the steelmaking department of the steel sheet plant, resulting in the explosion.
According to the assessment, 15-20 percent of Baotou Steel’s total capacity has been affected. The stricken sheet plant normally produces 250,000-300,000 mt per month, signaling that steel sheet production in northern China will drop by roughly 8-10 percent.
Equipment repair and resumption of production will take time, market sources told SteelOrbis. The restart cycle is expected to last 30-60 days, and could stretch to two or three months if regulatory approvals are complicated.
Moreover, the accident may lead to further safety inspections of other steelmakers in China, which might exert a negative impact on steel supplies in the short term.
In 2024, Baotou Steel produced 14.99 million mt of crude steel and was the 16th largest steel producer in China.
