Recently, the steel industry has shown new dynamics and development trends in many aspects. From blast furnace operating rates to industry mergers and acquisitions, to market price fluctuations, every step of the steel industry affects the nerves of the market.
Image Source：699.com
The blast furnace operation of steel production enterprises across the country has shown a positive trend. According to the monitoring data of Lange Steel Network, as of March 5, 2025, 74 steel mills among the 201 production enterprises in the country had a total of 121 blast furnaces shut down for maintenance, and the total volume decreased compared with last week. The blast furnace operating rate reached 75.33%, an increase of 0.28% from last week. This shows that with the gradual resumption of production of blast furnaces that were shut down for maintenance in the early stage, the production capacity of steel enterprises is steadily recovering. The number of blast furnace maintenance in East China, South China, Northwest China and other regions has changed, but overall, the total molten iron output of steel mills across the country has shown an increasing trend.
In terms of industry mergers and acquisitions, Li Shiping, a deputy to the National People's Congress and former chairman of China Baowu Zhongnan Steel, said that mergers and acquisitions and asset integration in the steel industry are expected to accelerate further in 2025. He pointed out that the low concentration of the steel industry has been a problem for many years, and the current industry has shown a good momentum in mergers and acquisitions. This view reflects that the steel industry is moving towards a more intensive and efficient direction.
However, the fluctuation of steel market prices cannot be ignored. For example, in the Urumqi welded steel pipe market, prices have dropped slightly recently, and the transaction situation is not good. This is mainly due to the poor transportation environment caused by snowy weather and the low temperature weather affecting the progress of terminal projects, resulting in slow demand release. In addition, the downward pressure on black futures prices has also affected spot market prices. It is expected that in the short term, the price of Urumqi welded steel pipe market will still be weak.
Despite some challenges, the overall operating trend of the steel industry is still slow and stable. The steel PMI index was 45.1% in February, up 1.8 percentage points from the previous month, showing that the industry's operation has stabilized. With the end of the Spring Festival holiday, steel mill production personnel have returned to work one after another, and the labor supply has stabilized. At the same time, the demand for infrastructure investment has been steadily released, and enterprises have good expectations for the future market, which has driven the recovery of steel mills' production willingness. Under the combined effect of these factors, steel production has stabilized and has a certain recovery trend compared with last month.
Looking ahead, the steel industry will continue to face many opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, with the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous support of policies, the steel industry will accelerate the pace of transformation and upgrading, and improve production efficiency and product quality. On the other hand, changes in market demand and the international trade environment will also have a profound impact on the steel industry. Therefore, steel enterprises need to closely monitor market dynamics and flexibly adjust production strategies to cope with the ever-changing market environment.
Overall, the steel industry has recently shown new dynamics and development trends in blast furnace operation, mergers and acquisitions, and market prices. These changes not only reflect the current situation of the steel industry, but also indicate the future development direction. Steel companies need to keep up with the pace of the times, continue to innovate and forge ahead, so as to remain invincible in the fierce market competition.
