China to keep 2022 crude steel output lower than last year's level

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state planner will continue reduce its crude steel output this year and pledged an annual decline, after cutting around 30 million tonnes of production in 2021, an official said on Tuesday.

The world's top steel producer met its annual target last year by slashing steel output to 1.035 billion tonnes from 1.065 billion tonnes in 2020.

The industry has been expecting the government to maintain output controls as it aims to bring its carbon dioxide emissions to a peak by 2030. The ferrous sector contributes some 15% of China's total greenhouse gas discharge.

The National Development and Reform Commission would strictly implement requirements in line with energy consumption and environment controls while ensuring the steel sector's supply-side reform, a commission spokeswoman, Meng Wei, told a briefing.

"The target is to make sure that national crude steel output will fall in 2022 from a year earlier," said Meng, adding that key areas for cuts include Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze river delta.

China's first-quarter crude steel production stood at 243.4 million tonnes, down 10.5% from the same period a year earlier, data from the statistics bureau showed on Monday.

(Reporting by Min Zhang, Shen Yan and Dominique Patton; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel and Louise Heavens)

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