China reduced steel production by 3.4% y/y in January-September 2022

In January-September 2022, steel companies of China reduced the production of unrefined steel by 3.4% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 780.83 thousand tons. SteelOrbis reports about it with the reference to data from the China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The production of finished steel in China for 9 months reached 1.005 billion tons, decreasing by 2.2% to January-September 2021. The output of pig iron during this period decreased by 2.5%, to 656.1 million tons.

In September, Chinese steelmakers increased steel production by 17.6% compared to the same month in 2021 – 86.95 million tons. The output of finished steel for the month was 116.2 million tons, and pig iron – 73.94 million tons, which 12.5% ​​and 13% more, respectively.

On a monthly basis, steel production increased by 3.7%, pig iron – by 3.6%, and finished steel production – by 7.3%.

Steel exports from China in January-September 2022 decreased by 3.4% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 51.21 million tons. Steel imports to China during this period decreased by 22.1% y/y – to 8.34 million tons.

In September, China exported 4.98 million tons of steel, which is 1.3% more compared to September 2021, and 19% less than in the previous month. Imports in September amounted to 891,000 tons (-29.3% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, China announced plans to reduce steel production in 2022 after a decrease in output of almost 30 million tons in 2021. Controlling steel production is part of China’s efforts to achieve its goal of reducing the country’s carbon emissions.

China is the largest producer of steel in the world. In 2021, Chinese steelmakers reduced steel production by 3% compared to 2020 – to 1.03 billion tons.