China's Crude Steel Output Dipped in 2021

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The annual crude steel output by China reported decline for the first time in six years in 2021. The output dropped from its record levels of 2020, mainly on account of stringent production curbs, aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

The data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NSB) indicated that the country produced 1.03 billion tonnes of crude steel during the previous year. This is marginally lower by 3% when compared with the prior year. It must be noted that the Chinese crude steel output had totalled 1.065 billion tonnes in 2020.

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The Chinese administration had urged the industry, since the beginning of the year, to limit the 2021 steel output to be less than that in 2020, as part of its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. Contrary to expectations, the output during the initial six-month period had surged higher by 12%, in comparison with the corresponding six-month period in 2020. However, since July 2021, steel production started to contract. The production during H2 2021 witnessed sharp decline by 16% over the previous year.

The Chinese steel output totalled 86.19 million tonnes in the last month of the year, down by 6.8%, in comparison with December 2020. The average daily output surged higher by almost one-fifth over the prior month to 2.78 million tonnes in December 2021.

The production will remain muted in near future, mainly on account of Lunar New Year and Beijing Winter Olympics. The Chinese crude steel production in 2022 is predicted to fall slightly by 0.7% over the year.