The future of Chinese steel industry will likely depend primarily on demand China is taking a measured approach to reviving its steel industry, improving prospects for high-end companies while avoiding steps needed to significantly reduce steel supplies, Bloomberg writes. China’s new five-year plan focuses heavily on promises to stimulate consumption and innovation in the economy. However, the government’s campaign to combat overcapacity and destructive competition, including in the steel sector, has attracted less attention than expected. Instead, Beijing appears to be intent on delaying restrictions on steel companies – a matter of years rather than months. In October this year, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed stricter rules for capacity exchange. In particular, those that provide for the modernization of plant...

The recovery observed in the third quarter may come to an end Chinese steel mills are facing new pressure amid rising raw material costs. This factor threatens to reduce profits after a strong third quarter, according to Bloomberg. Overall industry profitability improved in July-September. However, analysts warn that the recovery may stall due to the impact on raw material price margins. Iron ore futures in Singapore have risen for the fourth consecutive month, while coking coal in Dalian has reached its highest level in nearly a year. Qin Cui, president of the China Iron and Steel Research Institute, said at a recent conference that Chinese mills’ profits have begun to decline again. Manufacturers using electric arc furnaces are still operating at a loss. At the same time, spot margins for mills producing rebar, hot-rolled coil, and billets have fallen to...

October iron ore supplies may become the second largest in the country's history Iron ore imports to China are showing steady growth despite a decline in steel production. According to estimates by Kpler analysts, shipments will reach 113.06 million tons in October 2025, which will be the second highest figure in history after a record 116.33 million tons in September. This indicates that Chinese importers remain active, while domestic steel production continues to decline, according to Reuters. China accounts for approximately 75% of global seaborne iron ore imports and produces about half of the world’s steel. Since June, import volumes have consistently exceeded 100 million tons per month, offsetting the weak start to the year. In the first nine months of 2025, the country imported 917.69 million tons, only 0.1% less than a year earlier. Strong October figur...

In January-September, production increased by 5.2% y/y In September 2025, Polish steel enterprises reduced steel production by 16.2% compared to the previous month, and by 11.3% year-on-year, to 524 thousand tons. Thus, the country ranks 20th in the global ranking of world steel producers WorldSteel. In January-September, Polish steelmakers produced 5.65 million tons of steel, which is 5.2% more than in the same period of 2024. In the third quarter, the figure reached 1.79 million tons, which is 11.6% less than in the previous quarter and 0.7% more than in the same period of 2024. The resumption of steel production in Poland since the beginning of the year has been facilitated by the restart of an important enterprise, Huta Częstochowa. Since February 3, the plant has been operating at full capacity after more than a year of downtime. In addition, Co...

The EU is supporting prices through trade protection, while China is facing a decline in demand and export pressure In late September and October, the global hot rolled coil (HRC) market showed opposite trends in key regions. European prices went up on the back of expected stronger trade protection, while the US remained stable amid weak demand, and China again lowered its prices due to excess inventories and lack of confidence in the industry’s recovery. Europe Hot rolled coil prices in Europe have been on the rebound since the beginning of October. In particular, in Western Europe, supply increased by 3.5% between September 26 and October 17 to €595/t Ex-works. Import prices in Southern Europe increased by 0.5% to €485/mt CIF, while in the Italian market, products are offered at €560/mt Ex-works (+4.2%) with the prospect of further g...

Steel production in 70 producing countries amounted to 141.8 million tons in the month Global steel production in September 2025 decreased by 1.6% compared to the same month in 2024 to 141.8 million tons. The figure decreased by 2.4% compared to the previous month. This is evidenced by the global ranking of steel-producing countries (70) by the World Steel Association. Total steel production in the CIS+Ukraine decreased by 5.3% y/y and 7.5% m/m – to 6.2 million tons over the month, while in Ukraine it increased by 0.2% y/y and fell by 5.9% m/m – to 611 thousand tons. The top ten steel-producing countries in September, according to World Steel, were: China – 73.5 million tons (-4.6% yoy); India – 13.6 million tons (+13.2%); USA – 6.9 million tons (+6.7%); Japan – 6.4 million tons (-3.7%); Russia – 5.2 million tons (-3...