Emissions in China’s steel industry increased by 18.3% y/y in April

In April 2025, Chinese steelmakers that are members of the CISA industry association increased their total emissions by 18.3% compared to April 2024. This is evidenced by the association’s data.

Despite the increase, emissions of sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides in exhaust gases decreased by 8.6%, 4.7% and 11.2% y/y, respectively.

The total energy consumption by the participating companies in April increased by 0.5% y/y. Total energy consumption (electricity, gas, coal, etc.) per tonne of steel increased by 0.3% y/y, while comparable energy consumption decreased by 0.2%. At the same time, electricity consumption per ton of steel increased by 2.5% y/y.

Total electricity consumption increased by 8.8% y/y. Own electricity generation increased by 16.1% y/y and its share in the total balance increased by 4.04 percentage points. Clean energy production increased by 67.6% y/y, including wind energy by 447% and solar energy by 70.3%.

Water consumption by EBA member companies increased by 2.6% y/y. Water abstraction increased by 7.1% y/y, while water reuse decreased by 2.5%. The water recycling rate fell by 0.07 percentage points to 98.38%. Water consumption per ton of steel increased by 4.6% y/y – to 2.39 cubic meters.

Wastewater emissions decreased by 9.7% y/y. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water decreased by 19% y/y, ammonia by 16.1%, and suspended solids by 23.2%.

The utilization rate of steelmaking slag, blast furnace slag and iron-containing dust remained above 98%. Combustible gas utilization, including blast furnace gas, BOF gas and coke oven gas, exceeded 98%. The share of coke oven gas increased by 0.54 percentage points.

In 2024, total emissions in China’s steel industry increased by 4.1% compared to 2023. Increased liquidity of blast furnace capacity compared to electric arc facilities increased emissions in the industry despite a decline in annual steel production.