Emissions in China’s steel industry sector rose by 17.9% y/y in May

Energy consumption in the sector fell by 2.1% y/y during the month

In May 2025, Chinese steel enterprises belonging to the CISA industry association increased their total emissions by 17.9% compared to May 2024. This is evidenced by the association’s data.

Despite the increase in the indicator, emissions of sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides in waste gases decreased by 10.4%, 9.3%, and 11.6% y/y, respectively.

Total energy consumption by participating companies in May decreased by 2.1% year-on-year. Total energy consumption (electricity, gas, coal, etc.) per ton of steel increased by 2.1% year-on-year, and comparable consumption increased by 0.06%. At the same time, electricity consumption per ton of steel increased by 5.2% y-o-y.

Total electricity consumption increased by 7.6% y-o-y. Own electricity production increased by 14.3% y-o-y, and its share in the total balance increased by 3.77 percentage points. Clean energy production increased by 48.7% y-o-y, including wind energy – by 451.6% and solar energy – by 50.2%.

Water consumption by member companies of the association increased by 0.4% y-o-y. Water withdrawal increased by 1.6% y-o-y, and reuse by 0.3%. The water reuse rate fell by 0.02 percentage points to 98.38%. Water consumption per ton of steel increased by 3.4% y-o-y – to 2.41 cubic meters.

Wastewater emissions decreased by 1.8% y-o-y. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water decreased by 3.2% y-o-y, and ammonia by 12.7%.

The utilization rate of steelmaking slag, blast furnace slag, and iron-containing dust remained above 98%. The use of combustible gases, in particular blast furnace, converter, and coke oven gas, exceeded 98%. The share of coke oven gas use increased by 0.2% y-o-y.

It should be noted that in 2024, total emissions in China’s steel industry increased by 4.1% compared to 2023. The increase in the liquidity of blast furnace capacities compared to electric arc furnaces increased emissions in the industry, despite a decline in annual steel production.