2026-02-02
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China has reduced steel production by over 100 million tons.
“During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the iron and steel industry will continue to deepen supply-side structural reform, steadily advance capacity management, and persist in reducing output by more than 100 million tons,” said Zhao Mingge, President of the China Iron and Steel Association, at the association’s 13th Members’ Congress recently. He pointed out that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, capacity management in the iron and steel industry will focus on “controlling new capacity additions, optimizing existing capacity, promoting mergers and reorganizations, and facilitating orderly exit.” The industry will adhere to market-oriented and rule-of-law principles, strictly close the door to new capacity additions, ensure smooth channels for phasing out outdated capacity, comprehensively rectify and resolutely eliminate newly added capacity that violates laws and regulations, and thereby continuously optimize the industry’s capacity structure.
In 2025, the supply-demand contradiction in China’s steel industry will further intensify. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2025, the nation’s crude steel output reached 961 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 4.4%; pig iron production totaled 836 million tons, down 3.0% from the previous year; and steel product output amounted to 1.446 billion tons, equivalent to an apparent consumption of 829 million tons of crude steel, representing a year-on-year decline of 7.1%.
Although domestic consumption has declined somewhat, steel exports reached a new high in 2025. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in 2025, China exported 119 million tons of steel, an increase of 7.5% year-on-year; the average export price was USD 694 per ton, down 8.1% year-on-year. By product category, compared with 2020, in 2025, the volume of plate exports surged by more than 100%, while the volumes of thick steel plates, hot-rolled narrow and wide steel strips, hot-rolled thin sheets, rebar, and large-section structural steel all saw increases of five times or more.
Meanwhile, the steel industry’s profitability improved in 2025. According to statistics from the China Iron and Steel Association, in 2025, the cumulative operating revenue of key surveyed enterprises reached 6.1 trillion yuan, down 3.1% year-on-year; operating costs totaled 5.7 trillion yuan, a decrease of 4.5% year-on-year; and total profits amounted to 115.1 billion yuan, up 140% year-on-year. Among these, the core steel business generated profits of 44.5 billion yuan, turning a loss into a profit.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, building on cumulative production cuts exceeding 100 million tons, the steel industry has accelerated its efforts to promote mergers and restructuring. In 2025, Baowu Bajigang Company took the initiative to voluntarily control production and reduce inventory, leading to an improvement in supply-demand conditions in the Xinjiang steel market. Guided by the goal of enhancing industrial synergy, the industry has deepened joint restructuring efforts: Baowu has merged and reorganized Xinggang, strategically invested in Shandong Iron and Steel, Ansteel has reorganized Bensteel and Linggang, CITIC Special Steel has teamed up with Nangang, Jianlong has restructured Xining Special Steel, and Jingye has acquired Yingkou Plate. These moves have further optimized industrial layout and increased industry concentration. By 2025, the top-10 firms’ market share in the steel industry reached 43.1%, an increase of 4.2 percentage points compared to 2020.
Regarding the development of industries during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Zhao Mingge also outlined several key reform initiatives. In terms of capacity management, we will continue to focus on "controlling new capacity, optimizing existing capacity, promoting mergers and reorganizations, and facilitating orderly exit," adopting market-oriented and rule-of-law approaches to standardize capacity management and eliminate illegal and non-compliant capacity. At the same time, we will optimize methods for output regulation, strengthen data governance, and explore the establishment of an output regulation mechanism based on standards related to energy consumption, environmental protection, quality, and safety, thereby promoting a precise match between production capacity and demand.
In terms of export and green development, we will further optimize the export structure in line with the guiding principles of "promoting high-end products, stabilizing neighboring markets, and strengthening regulatory oversight." We will strictly implement the export licensing management measures for certain steel products and promote high-quality development of export trade. We will continue to advance the green and low-carbon transition by ensuring that all remaining steel production capacity undergoes comprehensive ultra-low emission upgrades. We will establish a dynamic public disclosure and management mechanism for ultra-low emissions that allows both new entrants and those exiting the system, and facilitate the shift from "dual control over energy consumption" to "dual control over carbon emissions."
In terms of industrial synergy and market expansion, we will deepen the integrated development of industry and urban areas, driving the transformation of the city from a “major steel-producing city” to a “major steel-construction city” and cultivating new growth drivers for the urban steel-using industry. We will also deepen collaborative partnerships with downstream industries such as shipbuilding, transportation, agricultural machinery, and heavy equipment, actively exploring new markets and applications for steel products, promoting coordinated development across the upstream and downstream segments of the industrial chain, and enhancing the industry’s resilience to risks.
Previous Page
2026-01-26
Hotline:4000-91-9898
Copyright © 2024 Tianjin Youfa Steel Pipe Group Co., Ltd.
State Internet Information Office Reporting Center Tianjin Internet Illegal and Bad Information Reporting Center Reporting E-mail:yfmarket@yfgg.com
National Hotline:4000-91-9898
Copyright © 2024
Tianjin Youfa Steel Pipe Group Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved
National Internet Information Office Reporting Center
Tianjin Internet Illegal and Bad Information Reporting Center
Reporting E-mail:ppclglzx@aimatech.com