SHANGHAI, May 21 (SMM) – China will shut more outdated steel plants and lower its crude steel production capacity to below 1 billion mt by 2025, according to Yu Yong, president of China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) and chairman of state-owned Hebei Iron and Steel Group. 

The domestic demand for steel is set to dip gradually, he was quoted as saying by local media China Metallurgical News.

The country aims to keep the utilisation rate at around 80%. They fell to below 70% in 2015, Yu said.

China plans to cut 30 million mt of steel capacity this year, following the elimination of around 100 million mt of illegal low-grade steel capacity used largely in construction.

Separately, China's crude steel output in April notched an all-time high of 76.7 million mt, up 3.7% month on month and up 4.8% year on year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 

Driven by high profits, steel mills were keen to raise production. Large and medium-sized steel mills also raised production to meet demand as Chinese authorities stepped up efforts to crack down ditiao steel.

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