Cancellation of discounts will reduce exports of steel goods from China in 2015 - CISA

The Metallurgical Association of China (CISA) foresees that the country's steel production in 2015 will be maintained at the same level as in 2014, however, steel exports could be significantly reduced after the removal of export incentives such as government export tax rebates.

Speaking at the Worldsteel conference in Moscow, Chi Jingdong, CISA Deputy Secretary General, noted that the country is likely to produce 830 million tonnes of steel this year. Production volumes are likely to remain at these levels next year. However, the country plans to cut its steel exports through regulatory measures imposed by the government, which should remove tax breaks on the export of certain steel products.

The Association also noted that the issue of overcapacity in steel production cannot be resolved through increased exports. Meanwhile, exports of Chinese steel products rose 35 percent during the year and reached 56.83 million tons from January to August this year.

Cumulative steel production in the country for the first eight months of this year was 550 million tonnes, up 2.6 percent from last year, according to data recently released by CISA. Finished steel production by the 86 CISA members totaled 742 million tonnes, up 5.4 percent over the corresponding eight-month period last year.