News

03 Green Manufacturing and Low-Carbon Transition

Green manufacturing in the steel industry is evolving along multiple technological pathways. The electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking process is regarded as a primary “green manufacturing” technical route. By November 2025, 84 EAFs across 51 EAF enterprises had completed and publicized their ultra-low emission transformation.

The low-carbon transition is no longer limited to end-of-pipe treatment but encompasses technological innovation across the entire industrial chain. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the steel industry promoted the high-end development of basic steel for automotive and home appliance sectors, giving rise to key technologies like “ecological non-blast furnace ironmaking” and the “third-generation TMCP (Thermo-Mechanical Controlled Process).”

Novel low-carbon processes such as hydrogen-based shaft furnace direct reduction and blast furnace hydrogen-enriched smelting are accelerating within the industry. HBIS Group has taken the lead in formulating the group standard “Design Code for Hydrogen-Based Shaft Furnace Direct Reduction Process.”

04 Market Restructuring and Industry Evolution

The steel industry is undergoing profound market restructuring. In 2024, the proportion of steel used in China’s construction sector fell to 50%. Simultaneously, demand for steel in the manufacturing sector maintained growth, its share rising from 42% in 2020 to 50% in 2024.

Steel consumption in the automotive sector increased by 1.8% year-on-year, while the home appliance sector saw a 9.1% year-on-year growth, becoming significant drivers of demand growth.

In response to market changes, steel enterprises are transforming into service-oriented, customized product suppliers, actively establishing joint product R&D and application laboratories with downstream customers.

Tangsteel has established steel processing and distribution centers in Tianjin, Jilin, Zhejiang, and other locations, selling steel after shearing and processing, providing customers with more convenient and precise services.

05 Future Directions and Industrial Upgrade Pathways

The future upgrade of the steel industry presents diversified pathways. The sector will focus on researching downstream product demand within the sales radius of EAF short-process enterprises, building regional databases of downstream requirements.

Wang Juan, Vice President of Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., stated that the company closely monitors high-end manufacturing, strengthens originality and leadership, develops high-end products including ultra-high-strength steel and grain-oriented silicon steel, and continuously researches and reserves even more advanced new material technologies.

Industrial upgrade paths also include differentiated product layouts and scaled operations. EAF short-process enterprises can achieve group-based, scaled operations through various means such as capacity transfer, mergers, and acquisitions.

Enterprises belonging to different groups within the same region can adopt collaborative models to achieve product differentiation as much as possible.

Ma Steel produced P92 steel for ultra-supercritical units with a diameter of 1000mm on a curved continuous caster for the first time, solving two major industry challenges—”high-temperature ferrite control technology” and “center and surface quality control technology”—with the product filling a domestic gap.

Steel products are no longer just cold industrial raw materials. They are the technological breakthroughs supporting Grade F thick offshore engineering steel entering the Waigaoqiao Shipyard, enabling “hand-tearing steel” to become art, and allowing new energy vehicle wheels to lose weight without compromising safety.

A path of steel, stretching from construction sites to smart manufacturing factories, is redefining the weight and value of “Made in China.”