China ended steel production in all of the country's illegal induction furnaces by the end of June last year, it ha claimed.
Most operators in China are primarily small private mills that use low-quality scrap to produce substandard rebar. This is mixed with grade III (HRB400) rebar and sold at a discount to construction contractors.
For a long period, the government had neither a record of nor control over these private mills. Not only did they pose a threat to the quality of building standards but were also able to force down prices and eventually production at state-owned mills during the downturn in the construction sector and across the steel markets more broadly between 2013 and 2016.
According to data from the China Iron and Steel Association (Cisa) and the National...