Posted on 17 Apr 2026
China's total crude steel output maintained the downtrend during the first quarter of this year to reach 247.55 million tonnes, down at a faster pace of 4.6% on year as against the decrease of 3.6% for the first two months, according to the latest release by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday morning.
For March alone, China's produced 87.04 million tonnes of crude steel, falling by 6.3% on year, the NBS statistics showed. On a daily basis, the country's crude steel output averaged 2.81 million tonnes/day in March, lower than the 3 million t/d recorded in March 2025, though it recovered by 3.3% from the low average for the first two months, Mysteel Global calculated based on NBS data.
Many Chinese steelmakers, especially for electric-arc-furnace (EAF) mills, resumed normal operations last month after the country's Lantern Festival on March 3, leading to a recovery in crude steel output, Mysteel Global learned.
The result was in line with Mysteel's survey, which showed that by the end of March, the average capacity utilization rate among the 94 independent EAF steelmakers under its tracking had increased to 58.87%, soaring by 51.52 percentage points compared with one month earlier.
In parallel, China's steel demand also recovered gradually in March with the restart of downstream operations after the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday ended on February 23. This encouraged domestic steel mills to ramp up production in March, a traditional peak season for steel consumption in China as the weather conditions turn favorable for outdoor construction work in most regions of the country, Mysteel Global noted.
For March, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's tracking averaged 86,603 tonnes/day, rebounding from the average of 34,882 t/d over February 2-6. Mysteel suspended the tracking of construction steel trades over February 9–28 due to subdued spot market activity around the CNY period.
China's finished steel prices recovered in March due to the improved demand and higher energy costs from the escalating conflict in the Middle East since late February.
For example, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar averaged Yuan 3,325/tonne ($488/t) including the 13% VAT in March, rising by Yuan 20/t on month, while that of Q235 4.75mm HRC increased by Yuan 23/t on month to Yuan 3,302/t including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Last month, China's finished steel production reached 130.98 million tonnes with an on-year fall of 2.3%, taking the total output for the first three months to 351.44 million tonnes, down 1.7% from the same period last year, according to the NBS statistics.
China's steel output for January-March 2026
| Mar 2026 | Jan-Mar 2026 | ||
Volume (mln t) | YoY (%) | Volume (mln t) | YoY (%) | |
Crude steel | 87.04 | -6.3 | 247.55 | -4.6 |
Finished steel | 130.98 | -2.3 | 351.44 | -1.7 |
Pig iron | 73.28 | -3.3 | 210.98 | -2.9 |
Source: NBS
Source:Mysteel Global
