In 2014, crude steel output in China's Hebei Province amounted to 185 million mt, down 0.60 percent year on year, constituting the first year-on-year decline in the past 14 years, according to China's Xinhua News Agency.
China's government is seeking to eliminate 80 million mt of outdated steelmaking capacity by the end of 2017, with 60 million mt of this total to be eliminated in Hebei Province - a situation which puts strong pressure on steelmakers in Hebei, the country's leading steel producing province where many steel capacities are characterized by high pollution, high energy consumption and low efficiency.