China shut 42.4 million tonnes of steel capacity in the first half

Steel clampdown: Workers at a Hangzhou Iron and Steel Group Co workshop in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. According to the China Iron and Steel Association, all low-grade producers had been forced to cease operations. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: China shut 42.39 million tonnes of crude steel capacity in the first half of 2017, equal to 84% of its target for the whole year, a government official said at a meeting of the country’s steel industry body.

The country has essentially completed its five-year target, set last year, to cut between 100 million and 150 million tonnes of excess steel capacity within less than two years, said Xia Nong, an inspector with the National Development and Reform Commission, at the China Iron and Steel Association’s (CISA) annual meeting on Friday.