China Uses Old Playbook Amid Slowdown

Caixin: Winter Steel Production Surges Under Slackened Controls and Economic Pressure

Hebei’s steel output hit 57.53 million tons in the first quarter of this year, up almost 19% on the same period of 2018, Wu Jingjing, a deputy director of the China Iron and Steel Association, said at an industry event on Tuesday.

Most significantly, it accounted for 46.1% of the national rise during the same period, during which China produced 231 million tons of steel, a year-on-year increase of 9.92%. This has led many industry experts to worry that efforts to control output in the country that produces over half of the world’s steel are failing.

A bigger worry is that this steel might be consumed.