China’s largest steelmaker, state-owned Hebei Iron & Steel, plans to cut 5,02 million tonnes of production capacity per year in 2016 and 2017, the company said on Friday, amid government pledges to reduce capacity in the sector. The steelmaker will also cut 2,6 million tonnes of pig iron per year over the next two years, after already closing 5,6 million tonnes of pig iron capacity and 6,8 million tonnes of steel since 2008.
The company also plans to increase the proportion of value-added products it produces to above 70 percent by 2020 from the current level of 41 percent. Hebei Steel produced 47,75 million tonnes of crude steel last year, more than Brazil's entire output of 33,2 million tonnes. China's second-largest steelmaker, Baosteel Group, produced 34,94 million tonnes last year, while privately-owned Jiangsu Shagang Group produced 34,2 million tonnes. China as a whole plans to cut 100 million to 150 million tonnes of steel capacity per year over the next five years.
Infomet – 16/05/16
