Industry News and Market Outlook for Cold-Rolled and Hot-Rolled Steel Sheets
Capacity and Supply Landscape
Since 2024, China's steel industry has continued supply-side reforms, maintaining hot-rolled coil capacity utilization at around 78%. Notably, the proportion of electric arc furnace short-process steelmaking has gradually increased, effectively alleviating production constraints caused by scarce coke resources. For cold-rolled sheets, limited new capacity has been added due to complex processes and high energy consumption, with existing production lines focusing on technological upgrades for high-end products.
Technological Innovations
Green and low-carbon transition has become an industry focus. Baowu Steel Group pioneered hydrogen-based shaft furnace direct reduction technology in hot-rolling processes, reducing carbon emissions by over 20%. In cold-rolling coil technology, Shougang Jingtang developed an ultra-fast cooling system that improves shape control accuracy to 1.5I units, significantly enhancing surface quality for automotive exterior panels. Ansteel Benxi Steel Group optimized cold-rolling annealing processes using AI algorithms, narrowing the strength fluctuation range of dual-phase steel to ±30MPa.
Market Demand Shifts
Demand for hot-rolled H-beams in construction remains weak, but thick-gauge hot-rolled plates for wind turbine towers saw 12% year-on-year growth. Cold-rolled coil sheets show promising performance in new energy vehicles, with demand for high-strength cold-rolled battery enclosure sheets surging 25%. Upgraded energy efficiency standards in home appliances drove optimization of galvanized cold-rolled sheet demand, increasing high-end product share to 35%.
International Trade Environment
The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has entered its transitional phase, gradually impacting hot-rolled coil export costs. Southeast Asian countries are accelerating steel capacity construction, with Vietnam's Formosa Ha Tinh Steel reaching 8 million tons of hot-rolling capacity, reshaping regional competition. India's anti-dumping measures on imported cold-rolled sheets have prompted Chinese mills to explore high-end markets in the Middle East.
Price Trend Analysis
As of late November, the average price of 3.0mm hot-rolled coil in Shanghai was 3,950 yuan/ton, down 8.7% year-on-year, while 1.0mm cold-rolled sheets averaged 4,650 yuan/ton, a 5.2% decrease from early 2024. The price gap widening to 700 yuan/ton reflects the sustained value-added advantage of cold-rolled products.
Sustainable Development Progress
Several steel companies have released life cycle carbon footprint reports for cold-rolled sheets, with TISCO's automotive cold-rolled coil sheets achieving 1.8tCO₂/product ton. Waste heat recovery technology adoption in hot-rolling processes exceeded 60%, with Shougang Qian'an base setting an industry record by reducing process energy consumption to 48kgce/ton.
Future Outlook
In 2025, the cold-rolled sheet market will focus on two key growth areas: high-strength steel for new energy vehicles and eco-friendly coated sheets for home appliances. The hot-rolled sector will see sustained demand for thick plates used in offshore wind power and weathering steel for containers. Digital supply chain construction will be crucial for cost reduction and efficiency improvement, with industry investments in smart manufacturing projected to reach 12 billion yuan within three years.