China has been the world's largest steel producer and consumer for many years, and its exports have been decreasing year by year. China's huge market demand is the driving force behind high steel production, and the steel industry has played an important supporting role for the rapid development of the national economy. The iron and steel industry is the guarantee and motivation for building a strong domestic demand system and economic internal circulation system, providing nearly 1 billion tons of steel materials for economic construction every year. Without the support of the domestic steel industry, China's steel demand on such a large scale would be difficult to meet.
From the perspective of varieties, the steel industry basically meets the needs of the national economy for all steel products. As of the end of 2019, among China's 22 major steel products, 19 steel products have a self-sufficiency rate of over 100%, and the other three have 99%. China imports about 13 million tons of steel each year, which can be roughly divided into three categories: one is imported due to price factors, the second is imported by foreign investment and joint ventures in China, and the third is imported due to temporarily unable to stabilize production. Among them, the first and second types of products are steel products that China can meet production and supply. Although the import volume of the third types of products is only more than 2 million tons, they are mostly used in key projects, major equipment, national defense and military industries. This is the future of the steel industry. Areas still to be tackled.
The iron and steel industry provides a large amount of high-quality and inexpensive basic materials for the construction of the national economy. For a long time, the profit rate of the steel industry has been lower than the average profit rate of the industry, which supports the stable development of other industries. For a long period of time in the future, steel will continue to be the most cost-effective, green and recyclable basic raw material with the largest supply, and it will continue to be the foundation of the country. The steel industry is one of the most internationally competitive traditional industries in China, with a wide range of related industries, a high degree of globalization, and a strong economic drive. But on the whole, China's steel industry still mainly meets domestic demand and exports as a supplement. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the steel industry has demonstrated strong anti-risk capabilities and stable production has greatly supported the rapid recovery of downstream industries such as infrastructure, real estate, machinery, and automobiles, and has become a "stabilizer" for the development of the national economy.
