CONF: Future trends of downstream steel use in China

As a steel item widely used in the construction of buildings, bridges and specialized equipment, future demand for structural steel is promising, said Liu Yi, executive vice president of China Steel Construction Society (CSCS).

Chinese structural steel fabricators produced about 101.4 million tonnes of structural steel in 2022, accounting for more than 9% of the country's total crude steel that year.

"If we look ahead, the annual production of structural steel is expected to reach 140 million tonnes by 2025 and may increase further to 200 million tonnes by 2035," Liu shared CSCS's estimation during the panel discussion.

Panel discussion at Mysteel's annual conference

Such growth in production will be mainly attributed to the expanding construction of infrastructure and prefabricated houses in China and the application of steel structures in buildings under the country's "2C" goals, as most of the structures can be recycled and reused, Liu explained.

Currently, flat steel items are mainly used in processing and making steel structures, of which about 60% are medium plates. And an emerging item in structural steel is corten steel or weathering steel, a low-alloy steel highly effective for external structural applications such as large road bridges and marine drilling platforms, Liu introduced.

He stressed that Chinese steelmakers need to communicate more with downstream users on how to improve the performance of steel structures and provide deep processing products to build integrated industry chains.

Another major downstream user that may shape the future landscape of China's steel industry is shipbuilding.

China's shipbuilding industry has entered an upswing since 2021, and now 98% of the country's ships are built domestically and the industry sees a marked increase in its international market share, according to Tan Naifen, deputy secretary-general of China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry.

The advancement in steel industry has prompted the transformation and upgrading of shipbuilding as well, and new orders of high-tech, high value-added ships secured by Chinese shipyards are rising substantially, including large container ships, LNG carriers and car carriers, Tan told delegates.

New orders received by mainstream shipyards have been basically scheduled to 2027 and 2028, and a large number of dual-fuel vessels have been ordered by shipowners as the whole marine transport industry aims for green development and decarbonatization.

As such, steel use in the shipbuilding industry is expected to keep steady growth over the next three to four years, with annual steel consumption ranging from 13.5-14.5 million tonnes, Tan predicted.

In particular, demand for 304 stainless steel sheet, high-strength steel with toughness at low temperatures, and 9% nickel steel and hadfield steel for large container ships is expected to increase in the future, she added.

Regarding requirements for steel products, the household appliances industry has a strong attention to steel surfaces, including the look and design of steel products, noted Luo Yuanyuan, director of information advisory department at China Household Electrical Appliances Association.

"We'd like to see more patterns and styles in the design of coated sheet steel, which could show surfaces of different materials and help consumers enhance their home environment," she proposed.

Besides, to meet higher environmental standards, the home appliances industry needs more pre-painted steel products. And since a large part of the appliances are exported to Europe and America where demand for green steel is high, it will be of great help if the Chinese steel industry can provide green products with corresponding labels and set standards to help enterprises make the choice, Luo stated.

China's overall demand for steel has plateaued, so product mix adjustment and performance improvement will be two major focuses of the steel industry in the future, Baogang Group's chief technology expert He Jianzhong pointed out.

Written by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com

Edited by Vivian Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com