New laws to make steel firms more responsible, say experts

The revised Environmental Protection Law, which imposes stiffer penalties for environment-related wrongdoings and invokes eight new standards to combat pollution by steelmakers, which became effective from this year, will have a far-reaching impact on the fortunes of the industry, experts said.

To meet the new standards, steelmakers have to invest heavily to upgrade technologies and facilities, something that is certain to crimp the already wafer-thin profit margins of companies.

The average profit margin of steelmakers in China is just 2 percent, and more than 20 percent of the companies had reported losses for most of 2014, according to data provided by the China Iron and Steel Association.