China continues tough policy to cut steel production

Twenty-nine Chinese steel companies had their licenses revoked as Beijing continued its campaign to eliminate overcapacity in the sector. Notably, this happened just days after US President Donald Trump announced that he would open an investigation into cheap steel exports from China and other countries.

This fact is unlikely to be directly related to Trump's plan, analysts say, but rather is part of a reform effort in China aimed at reducing excess steel capacity, which is estimated by many to be around 300 million tonnes, roughly three times the annual output. production in Japan.

A China Daily official said Washington's decision to investigate steel imports could spark a trade dispute between the United States and its trading partners. In Japan, the world's second-largest steel producer after China, the head of a steel group expressed concern about Trump's protectionist policies.

"We are very concerned about Trump's protectionism, although we have heard that he softened his tone on some issues with understanding of reality," Kosei Shindo, chairman of the Japanese Federation of Metallurgists, told a news conference on Monday.