China is actively taking measures to cut steel capacity and is looking to strengthen talks with other countries to solve steel trade disputes, China’s commerce ministry said.
China’s steel industry, the world’s biggest, has been blamed by overseas steel mills for causing them hurt by exporting indiscriminately at unfair prices.
The nation is expected by analysts to ship a record 100 million tons-plus of steel products abroad this year to offset shrinking domestic demand amid a slowing economy.
“The overcapacity is a common issue facing the global steel industry which is under restructuring. China is actively taking measures and optimizing the industry structure, including slashing large capacities,” Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, told reporters at a briefing.
Chronic overcapacity and falling demand has helped drive Chinese steel prices to their lowest level in decades, forcing domestic mills to cut output and some to shut down permanently due to heavy losses and debt.
World steel producers have complained on several occasions about Chinese steel exports. In the latest instance, nine international steel associations said in a joint statement earlier this month that the Chinese government played a big role in its steel sector and it remains a non-market economy.
Shen refuted the claims of the associations, saying such concerns should not be used to engage in discriminatory trade practices and steel trade tensions should not be linked with the status of Chinese economy.
“I don’t think steelmakers in China are subsidized and the government’s attitude towards the steel industry makers is very clear: Those that are not competitive should be closed,” said Wang Li, an analyst with CRU in Beijing.