China is on track to lift its annual production of crude steel to the highest level for any nation in world history, following the launch of stimulus policies by Beijing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
China’s crude steel output was 961.16 million tonnes for the period from January to November 2020, for a YoY rise of 5.5%, according to figures released by the Smelting Industrial Planning Research Institute (冶金工业规划研究院) on 21 December.
The Institute forecasts that China’s crude steel output will hit 1.05 billion tonnes in 2020, accounting for 60% of global output.
“China will become the first nation in global history whose crude steel output exceeds one billion tonnes,” said Li Xinchuang (李新创), party secretary and chief engineer of the Research Institute.
Li said that China’s construction, machinery, energy and other major sectors for the downstream consumption of steel saw strong growth in 2020, as a result of active fiscal policy on the part of Beijing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a consequence Research Institute also forecasts an increase in Chinese steel demand of nearly 100 million tonnes in 2020.
