China’s domestic steel market remained subdued amid slow end-user demand recovery and rising market inventories, a trend which is expected to continue in the foreseeable future with no signs of demand improvement seen from the debt-ridden property market so far, market participants said March 13.

Saddled by piling debt, local governments in China are expected to focus on resolving their debt risks in 2024, an indication that points to reduced fiscal support for infrastructure construction, some sources said.

As a result, infrastructure construction would not be able to offset declining demand from the property sector after the infrastructure sector came to aid the steel market in 2023,

they added.

Both property and infrastructure sectors are the two largest demand drivers of Chinese steel markets.