[Algeria Plans to Build New Steel Complex in Oran]

In July 2026, China produced 76.93 million mt of crude steel, down 3.6% YoY, with daily output of 2.4816 million mt, down 11.0% MoM; produced 68.35 million mt of pig iron, down 4.5% YoY, with daily output of 2.2048 million mt, down 8.1% MoM; and produced 116.46 million mt of steel, down 4.1% YoY, with daily output of 3.7568 million mt, down 11.0% MoM. From January to July, cumulative crude steel production reached 577 million mt, down 3.1% YoY, with average daily output of 2.7219 million mt; cumulative pig iron production reached 496 million mt, down 3.0% YoY, with average daily output of 2.3385 million mt; and cumulative steel production reached 836 million mt, down 1.2% YoY, with average daily output of 3.9442 million mt. In July 2026, key statistical steel enterprises produced a total of 64.7837 million mt of crude steel, down 2.9% YoY, with daily output of 2.0898 million mt, down 8.1% MoM; produced 60.0525 million mt of pig iron, down 2.7% YoY, with daily output of 1.9372 million mt, down 6.5% MoM; and produced 65.7603 million mt of steel, down 4.8% YoY, with daily output of 2.1213 million mt, down 10.0% MoM. From January to July, key statistical steel enterprises had cumulative crude steel production of 473 million mt, down 3.4% YoY, with average daily crude steel output of 2.2316 million mt; cumulative pig iron production of 427 million mt, down 2.4% YoY, with average daily pig iron output of 2.014 million mt; and cumulative steel production of 474 million mt, down 3.9% YoY, with average daily steel output of 2.2355 million mt.

The 14th member congress and the first council meeting of the 7th session of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) were held in Shijiazhuang on the 21st. Zhao Minge stated at the meeting that since the beginning of this year, facing the industry's operating characteristics of "strong supply but weak demand, export pullback, low steel prices, rising costs, and declining profitability," member enterprises have made efforts to self-regulate production, optimize product mix, and maintain export order, stabilizing the fundamentals of economic operations. According to CISA statistics, in H1, the cumulative revenue of key statistical enterprises was 3.05 trillion yuan, down 0.7% YoY; operating costs were 2.85 trillion yuan, down 0.6% YoY; total profit was 58.4 billion yuan, down 5.5% YoY; and the sales profit margin was 1.92%, down 0.09 percentage points YoY. Among them, the steel core business profit was 16.7 billion yuan, down 40% YoY, with a profit margin of 0.77%. At month-end June, the asset-liability ratio of key statistical enterprises was 61.13%, down 0.97 percentage points YoY. Zhao Minge said that the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to consolidate and enhance the position and competitiveness of the steel industry in the global industrial division of labor. This year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The steel industry should strengthen confidence, strive for innovation and excellence, and continue to deepen steel capacity governance. It is expected to cooperate in production adjustment work, promote the implementation of differentiated production adjustment plans, and cooperate in implementing policies for optimizing steel capacity structure, as well as make dynamic adjustments for steel industry standard enterprises. Zhao Minge noted that the 15th Five-Year Plan provides strong support for the development of the steel industry. The planned construction of the "six networks" — water network, new-type power grid, computing network, new-generation communication network, urban underground pipeline network, and logistics network — is expected to involve an investment scale exceeding 23 trillion yuan, leading to a demand of 261 million mt of steel.

China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) announced that Liu Jian, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of HBIS Group Co., Ltd., had assumed the role of the new president of CISA. The 14th General Meeting of CISA and the 1st Council Meeting of the 7th Session were recently held in Shijiazhuang. By election, Liu Jian became the president (rotating) of the 7th Council of CISA. In his inaugural speech, Liu Jian stated that green and low-carbon transformation is the only path for the steel industry to achieve high-quality and sustainable development. He emphasized adhering to the "dual-carbon" leadership, continuously advancing the "energy and carbon efficiency improvement project," and accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of the industry. It remains necessary to continue promoting the full completion of ultra-low emission transformation for the remaining steel capacity, further applying advanced technologies for pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and persistently advancing differentiated policy support for environmental performance grading in the steel sector. According to CISA, as of month-end June, 299 enterprises had completed or partially completed ultra-low emission transformation and evaluation monitoring. Among them, 272 enterprises had completed the full transformation, involving approximately 924 million mt of crude steel capacity, with an investment per mt of about 466 yuan and an operating cost per mt of about 197 yuan. Compared with 2019, in H1 of this year, the key statistical enterprises saw down YoY by 51.4%, 47.7%, and 73.7% in chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, and suspended solids per mt of steel in external wastewater discharge, respectively; and down YoY by 66.5%, 55.9%, and 60.2% in sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides per mt of steel in external exhaust gas emissions. Liu Jian pointed out the need to promote the shift from "dual controls on energy consumption and energy intensity" to "dual controls on carbon emissions," and to further carry out systematic work on energy and carbon efficiency improvement across the industry. Through the selection, promotion, and application of excellent energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies, the industry's carbon efficiency level should be enhanced, fully achieving the national target of "increasing the average proportion of steel industry capacity reaching the current energy efficiency benchmark level by 20 percentage points by the end of 2028." It is necessary to continuously improve the construction of the EPD platform for the entire steel industry chain, expand the coverage of low-carbon steel standards, and promote mutual trust and recognition with upstream and downstream industries and international platforms. Enterprises should be guided to establish carbon asset management systems, strengthen their capacity to participate in the carbon market, and cooperate with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in further research on quota allocation plans and accounting methods.