Steel consumption in China is anticipated to decrease to around 900 million mt this year and is likely to remain at this level for the next few years, as stated by Wang Yingsheng, chief economist of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) at an industry meeting held in Beijing.
According to Mr. Wang, China’s overall apparent steel consumption is unlikely to exceed 910 million mt in 2024, as expected earlier, and it may even be lower than 900 million mt. This means that demand is expected to decline by a minimum of 3.6 percent compared to the 933.4 million mt recorded in 2023.
In the January-June period this year, apparent steel consumption in China amounted to 478.7 million mt, down 3.3 percent year on year, also resulting in the average sales margin of CISA member steelmakers declining to 0.99 percent in the given period, down from 1.38 percent in 2023. According to market sources, in the June-July period this year most Chinese mills have been incurring losses in their sales of rebar.
The continuing weakness of the real estate sector has exerted a negative impact on the steel industry. In 2023, the share of the construction sector in steel consumption declined to 52 percent, while it had been up to 60 percent in 2020 and 2021.