, Columnist
China’s EV Boom Is Keeping Its Steel Mills Dirty
Furnaces that spew more emissions are typically used to produce higher-grade types of metal.
China’s efforts to clean up its steel industry have stalled.
Phoptographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Something is badly wrong with China’s plans to clean up its steel mills.
Output of the ferrous metal is slumping as the economy pivots further away from the construction boom which juddered to a halt in 2022. Production in the eight months through August fell 2.8% from 12 months earlier, and is more than 8% below the peak in 2021. For the first time since 2019, it’s possible that output this year will dip below one billion metric tons.