China steel industry continues to progress in development

China's steel industry has accelerated structural upgrade to pursue greener growth pathways and high-quality development, according to senior officials of the China Iron and Steel Association on Monday.

"The industry has made remarkable progress in achieving high-quality developments during the first quarter, although facing complicated conditions," said Qu Xiuli, deputy chairwoman of the top industry association.

"As the overall Chinese economy expands and policy measures ensuring stable growth take better effect, the industry is expected to have better performance."

The industry achieved a balance between supply and demand during the first three months, and profitability of steel enterprises, although decreased year-on-year during the period, improved and showed month-on-month growth, she said, who is also secretary-general of the CISA.

Enterprises have also been upgrading their product portfolio to better meet high-end demand, while strengthening efforts on environmental protection and low-carbon development to achieve significant reduction in energy consumption and their carbon footprint, she added.

According to her, the steel market was stable during the first quarter, although consumption declined, because steel enterprises proactively adapted production to market changes.

Lu Zhaoming, deputy secretary-general of the association, said the nation's goal to cut crude steel output is appreciated by industry people, because cutting excessive output is helpful for stabilizing steel market expectations and the steady operations of both upstream and downstream enterprises.

The nation is fully capable to achieve its goal on crude steel output cut, he said.

Shi Hongwei, deputy secretary-general of the association, said generally only about 10 percent of the coking coal China consumes relies on imports from other countries including Mongolia, Russia and the United States, which is not likely to change in 2022.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed pig iron production in China totaled 201 million metric tons during the first quarter, down 11 percent year-on-year. Crude steel output was 243 million tons, declining 10.5 percent on a yearly basis.