MIIT: Operation of iron and steel industry in 2021

In 2021, the iron and steel industry continued to deepen the supply side structural reform, further consolidated the achievements of iron and steel capacity in last year, informations of graphite electrode for steelmaking, promoted the green low carbon industry transformation, actively responded to the changes of demand situation both at home and abroad, actively maintained supply and price stability, maintained the safety and stability of industrial chain & supply chain, and industry overall operation situation was good, laying a good foundation for the high-quality industry development.

First, crude steel output was “High to Low”, with a cumulative year-on-year decrease. In the first half of the year, driven by domestic and foreign demand, the country's cumulative crude steel output was 563 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.80%, a record high in the same period. In the second half of the year, with the implementation of national control policies, the excessive growth of steel production was effectively contained. Since July, crude steel production has maintained a year-on-year decline for six consecutive months. The annual cumulative crude steel output was 1.033 billion tons, a year-on-year decrease of about 32 million tons, a decrease of 3.0%. Accumulative crude steel apparent consumption was about 992 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.3%.

Second, iron ore prices continued to rise in the first half of the year and fell in the second half of the year. The price of imported iron ore rose sharply in the first half of the year, reaching a record high of $230.59/ton on May 12, which greatly deviated from the fundamentals of supply and demand and seriously affected the iron and steel industry stable operation. In the second half of the year, with the decline of steel production driving the reduction of iron ore demand, iron ore prices fell significantly. The total import of iron ore in the whole year was 1.12 billion tons, a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%, and the average price was $164/ton, a year-on-year increase of 55.3%.

Third, the fluctuation of steel prices rose, and the fourth quarter began to carry out high price correction. Since this year, affected by iron ore, coking coal and other raw fuel prices rose significantly, steel price has been rising all the way in the first half of the year. In mid-May, domestic steel comprehensive price index reached 174.81 points, a record high. Subsequently, the high steel price correction, especially since the fourth quarter, by the impact of reduced demand, steel prices fell sharply. By the end of 2021, the domestic steel composite price index 131.70 points, 24.7% lower than the highest point in 2021. The annual average index was 142.03 points, up 36.46 points year-on-year.

Fourth, steel export total volume was higher than that of last year and fell month by month in the second half of the year. Affected by the rapid recovery of foreign demand and the sharp rise of international steel prices, China's steel exports rebounded sharply in 2021 after five consecutive years of decline. In the first half of the year, steel export continued to grow. China's total steel export was 37.38 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 30.2%; Cumulative steel import was 7.35 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%. With the cancellation of export tax rebates and other policies, steel exports had continued to decline month-on-month since July. In the whole year, total exports of steel amounted to 66.9 million tons, with a year-on-year increase of 24.6%; Accumulated imports of 14.27 million tons of steel, a year-on-year decrease of 29.5%.

Fifth, the sales profit margin improved significantly, and the industry benefit had reached a record high. Affected by the overall improvement of the national economy, the rise of global commodity prices and other factors, the benefits of the iron and steel industry showed a trend of “High to Low” in 2021, and the benefits of the iron and steel industry reached the highest level in history. In the whole year, the accumulated operating revenue of key large and medium-sized iron and steel enterprises was 6.93 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.7%; The total accumulated profit was 352.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 59.7%, a record high; The sales profit margin reached 5.08%, 0.85 percentage points higher than 2020, contact us to get more iron and steel industry news.