China likely to unveil new steel industry dev. guidelines before end of 2018

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China is expected to release a new version of the steel industry development guidelines at the end of this year, the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily reported on Wednesday.

On the one hand, the overall economic structure has been adjusted. On the other hand, changes in crude steel production capacity have led to changes in the supply-demand situation. Therefore, it is imperative to study the future development direction of the steel industry in the new economic environment, according to industry insiders.

With the further reduction of 30 million metric tons (tonnes) of crude steel production capacity this year, China's steel industry will complete the goal of reducing 100 million tonnes to 150 million tonnes proposed in the steel industry adjustment and upgrade plan (2016-2020), said Zhang Zhixiang, president of China Chamber of Commerce for Metallurgical Enterprises.

If the target of 30 million tonnes is completed in 2018, China's steel industry will get nearly 300 million tonnes of crude steel output capacity eliminated since 2016, said Zhang.