Major events in the steel industry in March 2026
On March 4, Huafu stainless steel cold rolling project officially started production. The project is invested and constructed by China Tianjin Huafu Stainless Steel Co., Ltd., with an annual output of 200,000 tons of stainless steel cold-rolled products.
On March 5, China Jingang Holding Group’s 1750ESP production line project started construction. The project adopts the world's first production line for the production of high-performance silicon steel and ultra-deep drawing steel for automobiles using the integrated endless casting and rolling technology of thin plates. It builds a process with the shortest process from iron ore to finished steel coils, the lowest carbon emissions, and the most competitive products. It represents the highest level of hot rolling technology in the world today.
On March 7, Luli Group officially completed the equity transfer signing with Guangxi Deke New Materials Group Co., Ltd. and Guangxi Deli New Materials Co., Ltd., and the two companies were officially incorporated into the Luli Group system and became core member companies of the group.
On March 7, the Turkish Ministry of Trade announced that at the request of Turkish companies, it would launch an anti-circumvention investigation into steel pipe fittings originating in China. The Turkish tax number of the product involved is 7307.19. The announcement shall be effective from the date of issuance.
On March 12, the WTO Safeguard Measures Committee issued a notice that Egypt made a final affirmative ruling on safeguard measures against imported steel billets and recommended that safeguard measures be implemented in the form of quotas. The quota is 176,770 tons/year, and the products involved in the quota imported each year are exempt from safeguard measures taxes.
On March 15, the draft report of China's 2026 National Economic and Social Development Plan was released, which mentioned that in 2026, it will continue to promote quality improvement, cost reduction and carbon reduction actions in key industries, promote the balance and stability of supply and demand in key industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, and chemicals; and orderly reduce the production capacity of steel, oil refining and other industries.
On March 16, the British Department of Commerce and Trade announced its decision to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from 27.85% to 49.98% on tinplate originating in China. The measure came into effect on March 13 and will last for five years.
On March 16, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and three other departments issued a notice on launching a pilot project for the comprehensive application of hydrogen energy. It pointed out that the main line is to promote the transformation of the steel industry from high-carbon processes to low-carbon processes, and use nearby clean and low-carbon hydrogen sources such as industrial by-product hydrogen and renewable energy hydrogen production.
On March 18, according to the China Coal Industry Association, the total raw coal output of the top 10 companies from January to February was 390 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 4.83 million tons, accounting for 51.3% of the industrial raw coal output above designated size.
On March 20, the British government issued a statement that steel imported into the UK exceeding the quota level will be subject to a 50% tariff, and the overall quota level will be reduced by 60%. Tariffs will apply to imported steel products that can be produced in the UK, with quota levels reduced from July 1.
On March 20, the hot load test run of the No. 1 galvanized aluminum-magnesium production line of Baoheng Coating and Coating Branch Factory in Hebei, China was a complete success, and the first roll of qualified products rolled off the production line smoothly.
On March 23, four departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the High-Quality Development of Energy-Saving Equipment (2026-2028)", which mentioned that by 2028, breakthroughs will be made in key materials and components of energy-saving equipment, and the energy efficiency level of energy-saving equipment such as motors and transformers will reach the world's leading level.
On March 24, China's four steel pipe groups, Jinzhou, Youfa, Zhengda and Jinghua, jointly discussed the healthy development path of the steel pipe industry. The meeting decided to further summarize and optimize collaborative measures, improve the collaborative mechanism, and jointly promote the healthy development of the steel pipe industry.
On March 25, China's first sintering ring cooler cascade low-temperature ORC power generation project - Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.'s sintering ring cooler low-temperature waste heat utilization project in the ironmaking plant officially started.
On March 25, the construction of the new No. 4 continuous casting machine project of Maanshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. started. The new No. 4 continuous caster will adopt the design of a curved two-flow slab continuous caster, with an annual production capacity of 2.37 million tons.
On March 25, the launch ceremony of the Simandou Bonded Crushing Project and the arrival ceremony of SimFer's first iron ore shipment were held in Dalian, marking the official opening of a new iron ore logistics channel linking Guinea in West Africa and Northeast China.
On March 27, the United States and Israel carried out air strikes on Iran's Khuzestan Steel Plant and Isfahan Mubarak Steel Plant. The power plants supporting the Mubarak Steel Plant were also attacked.
On March 28, Shanghai General Heavy Industry Rizhao Lanshan Welding Industrial Park's 500,000-ton welding materials production expansion project and 3 million sets of export welding machine production projects officially started.
On March 29, Yunnan Muguang Steel’s capacity replacement and 100-ton electric furnace steelmaking construction project started.
On March 30, Valin Steel announced that the company's subsidiary Hunan Valin Xiangtan Steel plans to implement a high-quality large bar and flat steel production line project with an investment amount of 880 million yuan and a project construction period of approximately 13 months. Project construction content: Build a new large-size round bar and flat steel production line with an annual designed production capacity of 800,000 tons.
On March 5, China Jingang Holding Group’s 1750ESP production line project started construction. The project adopts the world's first production line for the production of high-performance silicon steel and ultra-deep drawing steel for automobiles using the integrated endless casting and rolling technology of thin plates. It builds a process with the shortest process from iron ore to finished steel coils, the lowest carbon emissions, and the most competitive products. It represents the highest level of hot rolling technology in the world today.
On March 7, Luli Group officially completed the equity transfer signing with Guangxi Deke New Materials Group Co., Ltd. and Guangxi Deli New Materials Co., Ltd., and the two companies were officially incorporated into the Luli Group system and became core member companies of the group.
On March 7, the Turkish Ministry of Trade announced that at the request of Turkish companies, it would launch an anti-circumvention investigation into steel pipe fittings originating in China. The Turkish tax number of the product involved is 7307.19. The announcement shall be effective from the date of issuance.
On March 12, the WTO Safeguard Measures Committee issued a notice that Egypt made a final affirmative ruling on safeguard measures against imported steel billets and recommended that safeguard measures be implemented in the form of quotas. The quota is 176,770 tons/year, and the products involved in the quota imported each year are exempt from safeguard measures taxes.
On March 15, the draft report of China's 2026 National Economic and Social Development Plan was released, which mentioned that in 2026, it will continue to promote quality improvement, cost reduction and carbon reduction actions in key industries, promote the balance and stability of supply and demand in key industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, and chemicals; and orderly reduce the production capacity of steel, oil refining and other industries.
On March 16, the British Department of Commerce and Trade announced its decision to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from 27.85% to 49.98% on tinplate originating in China. The measure came into effect on March 13 and will last for five years.
On March 16, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and three other departments issued a notice on launching a pilot project for the comprehensive application of hydrogen energy. It pointed out that the main line is to promote the transformation of the steel industry from high-carbon processes to low-carbon processes, and use nearby clean and low-carbon hydrogen sources such as industrial by-product hydrogen and renewable energy hydrogen production.
On March 18, according to the China Coal Industry Association, the total raw coal output of the top 10 companies from January to February was 390 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 4.83 million tons, accounting for 51.3% of the industrial raw coal output above designated size.
On March 20, the British government issued a statement that steel imported into the UK exceeding the quota level will be subject to a 50% tariff, and the overall quota level will be reduced by 60%. Tariffs will apply to imported steel products that can be produced in the UK, with quota levels reduced from July 1.
On March 20, the hot load test run of the No. 1 galvanized aluminum-magnesium production line of Baoheng Coating and Coating Branch Factory in Hebei, China was a complete success, and the first roll of qualified products rolled off the production line smoothly.
On March 23, four departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the High-Quality Development of Energy-Saving Equipment (2026-2028)", which mentioned that by 2028, breakthroughs will be made in key materials and components of energy-saving equipment, and the energy efficiency level of energy-saving equipment such as motors and transformers will reach the world's leading level.
On March 24, China's four steel pipe groups, Jinzhou, Youfa, Zhengda and Jinghua, jointly discussed the healthy development path of the steel pipe industry. The meeting decided to further summarize and optimize collaborative measures, improve the collaborative mechanism, and jointly promote the healthy development of the steel pipe industry.
On March 25, China's first sintering ring cooler cascade low-temperature ORC power generation project - Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.'s sintering ring cooler low-temperature waste heat utilization project in the ironmaking plant officially started.
On March 25, the construction of the new No. 4 continuous casting machine project of Maanshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. started. The new No. 4 continuous caster will adopt the design of a curved two-flow slab continuous caster, with an annual production capacity of 2.37 million tons.
On March 25, the launch ceremony of the Simandou Bonded Crushing Project and the arrival ceremony of SimFer's first iron ore shipment were held in Dalian, marking the official opening of a new iron ore logistics channel linking Guinea in West Africa and Northeast China.
On March 27, the United States and Israel carried out air strikes on Iran's Khuzestan Steel Plant and Isfahan Mubarak Steel Plant. The power plants supporting the Mubarak Steel Plant were also attacked.
On March 28, Shanghai General Heavy Industry Rizhao Lanshan Welding Industrial Park's 500,000-ton welding materials production expansion project and 3 million sets of export welding machine production projects officially started.
On March 29, Yunnan Muguang Steel’s capacity replacement and 100-ton electric furnace steelmaking construction project started.
On March 30, Valin Steel announced that the company's subsidiary Hunan Valin Xiangtan Steel plans to implement a high-quality large bar and flat steel production line project with an investment amount of 880 million yuan and a project construction period of approximately 13 months. Project construction content: Build a new large-size round bar and flat steel production line with an annual designed production capacity of 800,000 tons.
Release time: 2026-03-31
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