China vows to meet targets to cut steel production capacity in 2018
Pledge comes as firms in the highly polluting industry are ramping up output to take advantage of a rally in steel prices
China will continue to “unswervingly” cut existing steel production capacity and “strictly” ban the launch of any new steelmaking facilities in 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“We will strictly forbid any new steel capacity to be launched … and make sure all outdated steel capacity is eliminated and prevented from reopening,” the ministry said.
The world’s largest steelmaking country fulfilled its target of cutting back steel capacity by 50 million tonnes in 2017, according to state media, as well as phasing out another 120 million tonnes of low-tech illicit steel product capacity.
It also plans to meet the 2016 to 2020 capacity cutback target of eliminating up to 150 million tonnes ahead of schedule in 2018.
However, China’s 2017 crude steel output was still expected to exceed a record set in 2016 by climbing to 832 million tonnes, and continuing to rise in 2018 as major mills ramp up operations to take advantage of a price rally.