“We are all trying to find the person who did this,” the state-run steelmaker said.
China’s steel exports are expected to hit an eight-year high in 2024, highlighting growing criticism of chronic overcapacity in much of the country’s manufacturing sector.
of Financial Times A Shanghai-based metals-markets consultancy predicts China will export more than 100 million tons of steel this year. That may seem like a lot, and it is: more than the annual output of the United States, the world’s fourth-largest steel producer. But China’s once-enormous real estate and infrastructure markets, which drove the country’s phenomenal economic growth, now have little demand. One has dried up, the other has dried up. Yet even as steelmakers are losing money and prices have hit rock bottom, the central government has made only half-hearted efforts to rein in a bloated industry that accounts for more than half of the world’s steel production.
for example, Last week’s news Beijing has suspended a licensing system for the construction of new steel mills, introduced after the last China-led steel overcapacity crisis, which forced Chinese steelmakers to idle existing capacity as a condition for building new lines, but production has risen despite the capacity cuts. already The domestic steel industry is the largest in the world. And although approvals for new steel plants are currently on hold, Bloomberg article Citigroup estimates that China has more than 80 million tonnes of licensed production capacity that is not yet operational.
of FT report Last week, the China Iron and Steel Association, which represents China’s major state-owned steel mills, “urged steelmakers to end ‘vicious competition’ and accused them of ‘resorting to price wars to gain market share.'” This is reminiscent of a comedy sketch in which a man in a hot dog costume tries to shift the blame for a wine cellar disaster.
We’re all looking for the people who did this!
Anyway, think about it: Beijing couldn’t shut down its domestic steel industry even if it wanted to — there are ample subsidies and incentives at all levels of government to keep those steel mills running.
but I don’t want that anywayThe Chinese government downplays its steel overcapacity problem because steel is a basic manufacturing material needed to make everything from toasters to wind turbines, and cheap steel is effectively a subsidy for every industry it serves. That’s one reason Chinese manufacturers have a steel overcapacity problem. Flooded the world The company plans to install solar panels and do the same with electric vehicles.
So don’t hold your breath hoping the government will change course. It intends to lead manufacturing out of the current economic slump. This over-industry is a feature, not a flaw, of China’s state capitalist model.
