Emissions in China’s steel sector rose by 17.3% y/y in June

In June 2025, Chinese steel enterprises belonging to the CISA industry association increased their total emissions by 17.3% compared to June 2024. This is evidenced by data from the association.

Despite the increase in the indicator, emissions of sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides in waste gases decreased by 6.8%, 7%, and 9.2% y-o-y, respectively.

Total energy consumption by participating companies in June decreased by 3.6% year-on-year. Total energy consumption (electricity, gas, coal, etc.) per ton of steel increased by 1.8% year-on-year, and comparable consumption increased by 2%. At the same time, electricity consumption per ton of steel increased by 4.3% y-o-y.

Total electricity consumption increased by 4.7% y-o-y. Own electricity production increased by 10.2% y-o-y, and its share in the total balance increased by 3.35 percentage points. Clean energy production increased by 51.8% y-o-y, including wind energy by 655% and solar energy by 51.7%.

Water consumption by member companies of the association increased by 0.8% y-o-y. Water withdrawal increased by 2.2% y-o-y, while reuse decreased by 0.9%. The water reuse rate fell by 0.05 percentage points to 98.34%. Water consumption per ton of steel increased by 3.3% y-o-y, to 2.5 cubic meters.

Wastewater emissions decreased by 12.8% y-o-y. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water decreased by 9.7% y-o-y, and ammonia by 12.3%.

The utilization rate of steelmaking slag, blast furnace slag, and iron-containing dust remained above 97%. The use of combustible gases, in particular blast furnace, converter, and coke oven gas, exceeded 98%.

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 decrease in annual steel production.