China's MIIT proposes tighter steel capacity swap rules to tackle overcapacity

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a draft of a more stringent steel capacity swap plan on October 24 for public comment. The plan aims to curb China's total steel production capacity, optimize the industrial structure, and promote high-quality development in the country's steel industry, Mysteel Global understands.

Under the new swap rules, building or expanding steel smelting plants outside compliant industrial parks is prohibited in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Key regions -- including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Fenwei Plain regions -- are strictly forbidden from increasing their total steel capacity,