Insight: China’s capacity unchanged despite closures

摘要

China’s overall steel production capacity appears to be little changed despite a series of capacity closures over the past few years. The country’s installed capacity remains above 1 billion mt/year, S&P Global Platts estimates. With domestic consumption estimated at around 740 million mt this year, and set to fall in coming years, it means the shadow of overcapacity – and a potential lift in export volumes – continues to hang over the global steel industry if China’s economy slows. China’s daily crude steel output has continued to break records since April, despite capacity elimination and frequent environmental protection curbs at steel mills. The daily figure in April, May and June annualized out at 933 million mt, 955 million mt and 976 million mt, respectively, a huge jump on annual crude steel output of 832 million mt in 2017.