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China’s Steel Sector Is Softening, but With Resilience

China’s steel production peaked at 1.065 billion metric tonne in 2020.

Published

3 weeks ago

January 21, 2025

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There are two ways of looking at the 1.7% decline in China’s steel output last year.The first is that it confirms that the world’s largest producer of the key industrial metal is now in an established downtrend, and further weakness is likely this year.
The second is that the steel industry is actually remarkably resilient in the face of major economic challenges, and that output has been essentially flat at extremely strong levels for the past five years. Both are essentially factual, and reflect the classic glass half-full or half-empty dilemma.
On the half-empty side of the ledger is the fact that China’s steel production peaked at 1.065 billion metric tons in 2020, and has trended lower since then, with 2024 output coming in at 1.005 billion tons. But another way to look at China’s steel output is that it has been within a 70 million ton range between 2019 and 2024, which is actually quite a stable performance.
Perhaps the best way to characterise China’s steel production is that it likely has peaked, but the decline so far has been gentle, and output remains relatively high despite the well-publicised struggles of the world’s second-biggest economy since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similar to other markets, the answer remains unclear and subject to factors yet to come into play, chief among them what trade tariffs are put in place by the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who resumed the office . It’s also uncertain as to whether 2025 is the year China’s struggling residential property sector gets back on its feet, or whether it remains hostage to weak developer balance sheets and consumer wariness. A third factor is what will happen to China’s steel exports in 2025, after they hit a nine-year high of 110.72 million tons in 2024.
This was up 22.7%, or just over 20 million tons, from the previous year, with the increase helping to offset some loss of domestic consumption for steel mills. The volume of Chinese steel hitting global markets has led to some consternation among countries such as India, which is trying to boost the pace of expansion of its own steel sector.
This raises the possibility that China may find it harder to increase steel exports in 2025.But it is worth noting that not all importing countries are opposed to buying more steel from China, especially those without a domestic steel sector. The best-case scenario for China’s steel sector this year is one where trade tariffs aren’t too punitive, the domestic economy continues to regain momentum and construction activity stabilises, or perhaps even increases. Under such a scenario, the best outcome for China’s steel production would be steady output around 1 billion tons. This also means that China’s demand for iron ore is likely to remain steady as well, although it may ease from the record high of 1.24 billion tons in 2024.

Related Topics:China Steel steel production

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Baldota Group to Set Up Rs 540 Billion Steel Plant in Koppal

This investment follows the group’s earlier venture in November 2022.

Published

6 hours ago

February 12, 2025

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Bengaluru-based Baldota Group has announced plans to establish a massive steel plant in Karnataka’s Koppal district with an investment of Rs 540 billion. The integrated steel unit, to be developed under Baldota Steel and Power Ltd (BSPL), will have a production capacity of 10.50 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and is expected to generate 15,000 jobs.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) formalising the project will be signed at the Global Investors’ Meet between the Karnataka government and Baldota Group. The initiative aims to boost the state’s steel production while driving large-scale employment.

Baldota Group, known for its diversified interests in mineral exploration, mining, industrial gases, pellet production, wind power, and waste treatment, operates iron ore mines in Karnataka through its subsidiary MSPL Ltd. This latest investment follows the group’s earlier venture in November 2022, when its subsidiary Aaress Iron & Steel Ltd announced a Rs 180 billion steel plant in Koppal with a 3.5 MTPA capacity, promising 10,000 jobs.

(Deccan Herald)

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Rathi Steel Receives BIS Approval for SS 550 Reinforcement Bars

The approval is granted by the National Standards Body of the Govt of India

Published

1 week ago

February 4, 2025

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Rathi Steel and Power Limited, a prominent member of the P.C. Rathi Group based in Delhi, has announced a significant milestone in its growth. In a filing pursuant to Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the company revealed that it has received the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) license for its SS 550 Reinforcement Bars.

The approval, granted by the National Standards Body of the Government of India, allows Rathi Steel and Power Ltd to use the BIS standards mark on its high-strength deformed stainless steel bars and wires for concrete reinforcement, specifically in the 32 mm diameter category. This certification is a crucial step for the company in enhancing the credibility of its products in the market.

The company further stated that it is actively working on obtaining similar approvals for other diameters and sizes of reinforcement bars to expand its product range and ensure a comprehensive product offering for the construction industry.

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NMDC Shares Rs 700 Bn Capex Plan with Vendors

NMDC’s target of 100 million tonnes by 2030 is inspired by the vision of the National Steel Policy

Published

2 weeks ago

January 30, 2025

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India’s largest iron ore miner hosted a Vendor Meet in Hyderabad to share the company’s 100 MTPA roadmap with vendors from across the country. NMDC presented its CAPEX plan of Rs 700 billion for the next five years towards augmenting production capacity, building evacuation infrastructure and transforming the digital ecosystem. The public sector company promised ease of doing business and in return solicited speed and quality of the highest order from the partners.

Top brass of NMDC – Amitava Mukherjee, CMD (Additional Charge); Shri V Suresh, Director (Commercial); Shri Vinay Kumar, Director (Technical) and senior officers interacted with the network of contractors, consultants and vendors.

Setting the context for the meet, Amitava Mukherjee said, “This is not business as usual, 100 million tonnes by 2030 is a priority effort for NMDC and a once in a lifetime opportunity towards building a global mining powerhouse. We are looking at a capital expenditure of approximately Rs 700 billion.” He insisted that “our partners in progress should take this early head start, make financial arrangements, build up their resource base, deliver on timelines, and bring nothing
but the best to NMDC.”

The NMDC team laid out in great detail the upcoming infrastructure and innovation projects of the company in three sessions focused on expansion, evacuation, digital intervention and implementation strategies during the meet, followed by interactions with the vendors.

Delivering the closing remarks, the Director (Technical) of NMDC, Shri Vinay Kumar said, “Our vendors have ensured consistent growth, making NMDC a formidable team! However, it must be told that the aspiration now is to achieve more in the next five years than what we have done in six decades. Collective effort for seamless execution is the only way to realise the goal of 100 million tonnes by 2030.”

NMDC’s target of 100 million tonnes by 2030 is inspired by the vision of the National Steel Policy to build raw material security and self-reliance in the iron and steel sector of India.