China's 2015 Steel Demand Estimated At 720m Tons

　　China's steel industry continues battling overcapacity as demand for 2015is estimated at 720 million tons with a slower year-on-year growth of 1.4percent an industry report said on Wednesday.

　　The steel consumption for 2014 is forecast to grow 2.5 percent year on year toreach 710 million China's 2015 steel demand estimated at 720 million tons,according to China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute.

　　Given China's current production capacity, the debt-laden steel industry willcontinue to struggle with overcapacity, said Li Xinchuang, head of theinstitute.

　　Decelerated growth of downstream sectors, including machinery, construction andautomobile, is the major reason behind the slowdown of steel consumptiongrowth, Li said.

　　According to the report, steel demand next year from construction and machineryindustry is expected to rise by 1.3 percent and 3 percent year on year,respectively.

　　China is the world's biggest steel consumer and producer. In the last severalyears, China's iron and steel sector has been pummeled by weak demand andfalling prices and suffered greatly from overcapacity.

　　(Source: Xinhua)