Emissions in China’s steel industry increased by 5.9% y/y in January-June

Total emissions in the Chinese steel industry in January-June 2024 increased by 5.9% compared to the same period in 2023. This was reported by the China Steel Association (CISA).

Sulphur dioxide emissions per ton of steel amounted to 0.2 kg/t (-6.8% y/y), particulate matter – 0.21 kg/t (-3.5% y/y), nitrogen oxide – 0.35 kg/t (-5.6% y/y).

In January-June, the total volume of water used by steelmakers increased by 2.2% y/y – to 47.63 billion cubic meters. In particular, new water intake decreased by 3.1% y/y, while reuse increased by 2.3% y/y. The water reuse rate amounted to 98.3%, up 0.09ppt y/y.

In January-June, Chinese steelmakers produced 42.65 million tons of steel slag, down 1.3% y/y. Blast furnace slag production decreased by 1.4% y/y – to 114.37 million tons. The utilization rate of steelmaking slag was 98.9% (+0.16 percentage points y/y), and that of blast furnace slag was 99%.

Blast furnace gas production amounted to 462.9 billion cubic meters, down 3.5% y/y, BOF gas production amounted to 40.54 billion cubic meters (+1.6% y/y), and coke oven gas production amounted to 26.4 billion cubic meters (+1.3% y/y). The blast furnace gas utilization rate was 98.9%, up 0.4 percentage points compared to January-June 2023, BOF gas utilization rate was 98.5% (-0.08 percentage points y/y), and coke oven gas utilization rate was 98.2% (+0.1 percentage points y/y).

As a reminder, China increased steel production by 0.6% in 2023 compared to 2022, to 1.019 billion tons. Thus, the downward trend in the country’s steel industry has stopped after two consecutive years of declining production.

Last year, the Chinese authorities did not impose restrictions on steel production in line with their ambitions to reduce CO2 emissions, which contributed to an increase in production and revenue of local steelmakers. At the same time, in 2021-2022, the downward trend in the industry was supported by the relevant restrictions. Thus, in 2023, emissions increased by 7.8% y/y.