Has steel consumption in China entered a phase of structural decline despite the significant growth in high-tech industries and manufacturing? Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that steel consumption has dropped around 17% from close to 1 billion tonnes (bnt) in 2021 to 830 mnt in 2025. This is largely due to the real estate crisis. While growth in steel demand from manufacturing and exports has been unable to wholly offset the impact of the real estate downturn, most estimates show that consumption will remain largely rangebound in 2026 or may decline only marginally.
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