Steel industry to continue restructuring

China is to speed up restructuring in the steel sector, supporting the development of three to five major steel enterprises in an effort to address the long-standing problems of overcapacity and low industry concentration, the Securites Daily reported Monday, citing a senior official

 Miao Wei, vice-minister of industry and information technology, revealed the information on Feb 5 while attending the 2010 steel industry council meeting, the report said. He also said the detailed guidance for merger and acquisition of the industry will be released soon.

According to data from the council meeting, the 2009 output of China's five biggest steel mills only accounted for 29 percent of the national total, a rate much lower than the 45 percent goal set by the State Council for 2011.

Disqualified capacity is another malaise plaguing the sector, of the 568 million tons of crude steel produced in 2009 only 300 million tons were from the mills approved by the government, data from China Iron and Steel Association showed.

The ministry's issuance of the guidance aims at further optimizing the industry structure China's steel sector and strengthening its competitiveness in the international market.