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China's annual crude steel output fell for the first time in six years in 2021, reversing record levels recorded in 2020, as the country steps up efforts to curb emissions from its giant steel sector, Reuters reported.
The world's largest steel producer produced 1.03 billion tons of crude steel last year, down 3% from 1.065 billion tons in 2020, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released Monday, January 17.
Beijing has been urging industry to keep annual steel production no higher than the previous year's level from early 2021 to cut pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions as the country pledged to peak carbon emissions by 2030.
The target was deemed "unlikely" to be met as robust demand from the construction and manufacturing sectors boosted mill profits and boosted China's steel production in the first six months by nearly 12% compared to the same period in 2020.
However, steel production began to decline on both an annualized and monthly basis from July, when the government tightened environmental controls. An unexpected shortage of electricity, which spurred commodity prices, and a debt crisis in the real estate market also affected demand for industrial metal.
In the second half of 2021, China produced 470.86 million tons of crude steel, down 16% from July-December a year earlier.
Steel production in the last month of the year was 86.19 million tons, down from 69.31 million tons in November, but still 6.8% lower compared to December 2020, according to the statistics bureau.
Average daily steel production in December was 2.78 million tons, up more than 20% from the previous month, according to Reuters calculations based on NBS data.
