Urban trend a lasting boon for Chinese steelmakers

BEIJING - With China's fast urbanization, its steel output won't drop until at least 2030, stimulated by long-term robust demand, industry experts said on Monday.

"China's steel production won't decline over the next 20 to 30 years because urban construction in west China still requires a large amount of steel," said Weng Yuqing, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director-general of the Chinese Society for Metals.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said this month that China will produce around 660 million tons of steel in 2011, a 5 percent year-on-year increase.