Growth in China's steel production will not harm other
international markets in the years to come, an industry association
said.
The growth in China's steel production will not harm other
international markets in the years to come, an industry association
said.
"Our production growth will continue to mainly depend on the
domestic market," said Qi Xiangdong, deputy secretary-general of
the China Steel and Iron Association.
"The main target of China's steel industry is to increase shares of
the locally made steel products on the domestic market, not to
aggressively export," Qi said.
He made the remarks in response to recent claims by World Steel
Dynamics, the leading steel information service based in the United
States, that "China's unstoppable steel industry" will pose threats
to other countries' steel sectors over the next 10 years.
"China's steel exports now only account for some 3 percent of its
total steel production and do not jeopardize any other countries'
steel industries," Qi said.
Steel output in China stood at 191.87 million tons during the first
10 months of this year, an increase of 20.5 percent from a year
ago, according to statistics from the association, which consists
of all of the nation's major steel companies.
The steel exports grew by 28 percent year-on-year to 5.71 million
tons during the period.
Qi predicted China's total steel output and exports this year will
reach 215 million tons and around 7 million tons
respectively.
"In contrast, China's steel imports have been soaring, which helps
ease world's steel trading conflicts," he said.
The nation imported 31.05 million tons of steel during the first 10
months of this year, an increase of 51 percent from the same period
last year. Its total steel imports will reach 36 million tons this
year, up from 24 million tons last year, Qi said.
"China will remain a big net importer of steel, especially the
high-end products, in coming years as a result of its strong steel
demand," he said.
Steel producers from the European Union (EU), Japan, South Korea
and Russia have started to turn towards the Chinese market since
the United States imposed extra tariffs of up to 30 percent on
steel imports in March 2002 to aid its ailing steel industry.
China, which joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the end
of 2001, removed quotas on steel imports and cut its average steel
tariffs by half to 2.5 percent last year under its WTO
obligations.
Last week, the WTO Appellate Body ruled the US steel tariffs are
illegal. The EU has threatened to retaliate if the United States
does not lift its steel safeguards swiftly.
Qi and officials from China's Ministry of Commerce said
the US steel safeguards are inconsistent with WTO rules and the
United States should cancel them without delay.
"China's steel demand will continue to rise in the next several
years, boosted by its steady economic growth," Qi said.
The annual steel demand in China will reach 330 million tons by
2010, up from 210 million tons last year, according to the Chinese
steel association.
Qi said the overall supply and demand in the world steel market
will maintain its balance next year.
He forecast world steel demand will increase by 7 percent
year-on-year to 950 million tons in 2004 as a result of the
accelerated pace of the world economic recovery.
World steel output will reach 1 billion tons next year, up from 950
million tons this year, he said.
Prices in the domestic and world steel markets will remain on the
bullish side next year due to a shortage of production materials,
according to Qi.
(China Daily November 17, 2003)