China's steel industry accelerates optimization and adjustment of product structure

According to the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, the speed of product structure adjustment in China's steel industry is clearly accelerating, and the proportion of steel for manufacturing will rise from 42% in 2020 to 48% in 2023, and has continued to rise since the beginning of this year. In the first quarter of this year, China's exports of high value-added products exceeded 35%. By
product type, in the first quarter of this year, cold-rolled thin steel strip, galvanized sheet (strip), and hot-rolled thin sheet are the products with the largest increase in production, increasing by 16.5%, 14.5%, and 63.8% respectively compared to the same period last year. Plate exports are large and growing rapidly.
According to Jiang Wei, vice president and secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, according to the analysis of the profit data of the Iron and Steel Association member companies in recent years, the common feature of top companies is that high value-added products are relatively high, and steel product varieties are becoming a core factor affecting the profitability of companies. Optimizing the product adjustment structure is the key to breaking through the market waves.
According to the survey, with the optimization and upgrading of China's industrial structure, the steel demand structure has changed, and the trend of demand for building steel has declined, which has become a common understanding in the industry. The amount of steel used in manufacturing industries such as automobiles, home appliances, ships, and machinery has risen steadily, and the demand for steel in new energy industries such as wind power and nuclear power has increased rapidly. In addition, the "Plan for Promoting Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Replacement of Old Consumer Goods" printed and distributed by the State Council has brought new opportunities to steel demand in the manufacturing and energy industries. According to estimates, large-scale equipment renewal can increase the consumption of medium and high-end industrial steel by about 8 million tons.
"At present, China's steel industry has entered the stock optimization stage from the volume increase development stage, with the total demand declining gradually and the product structure being rapidly optimized. Enterprises need to understand the changes in the product demand structure more rationally and accurately, and determine the product positioning in the segmented market," said Shi Hongwei, deputy secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association.