China's EAF capacity seen slowing after reaching 196 million mt/year

摘要

China's electric arc furnace, or EAF, steelmaking capacity will increase by 14.3 million mt/year in 2021 to about 196 million mt/year, accounting for 15% of China's total crude steel capacity, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. However, the growth of EAF capacity will slow down in 2022-2023, as tight scrap supply and expensive electricity will continue to undermine EAF steel's profitability. The net increase of China's EAF steelmaking capacity will be just 6.1 million mt/year in total over 2022-2023, according to Platts.