Emissions in China’s steel industry fell by 1.1% y/y in January

In January 2026, Chinese steel enterprises that are members of the CISA industry association reduced their total waste gas emissions by 1.11% compared to January 2025. This is evidenced by data from the association.

Despite the overall decline, emissions of major pollutants in gases also decreased: sulfur dioxide by 16.5%, particulate matter by 7.86%, and nitrogen oxides by 16.93% y/y.

Energy consumption by participating companies in January decreased by 4.28% y/y. Total energy consumption per ton of steel increased by 0.94% y/y, and comparable consumption increased by 0.91% y/y. Electricity consumption per ton of steel increased by 5.11% y/y.

Electricity consumption increased by 2.89% y/y. Own electricity production increased by 5.79% y/y, and its share in the total balance increased by 1.65 p.p. – to 60.06%. Clean energy production increased by 58.74% y/y, including wind energy by 651.26% and solar energy by 53.1%.

Water consumption by member companies increased by 2.93% y/y. Water withdrawal increased by 5.32% y/y, while reuse increased by 2.89% y/y.

The water reuse rate was 98.43% (-0.04 p.p.). Water withdrawal per ton of steel increased by 9.37% y/y, to 2.41 cubic meters. Wastewater discharges increased by 3.33% y/y.

The utilization rate of steelmaking and blast furnace slag, as well as iron-bearing dust, remained above 99%. The use of combustible gases, in particular blast furnace, converter, and coke oven gases, exceeded 98%, while converter gas consumption per ton of steel increased by 2.86% y-o-y.

As a reminder, in December 2025, Chinese steel enterprises increased their total emissions by 4.41% compared to December 2024. Energy consumption in the industry decreased by 6.4% y/y during the month.