The increase took overall shipments for the last year to 407mn, slightly higher than a government-set target for the year of 400mn t.

It is expected that a new round of coal price rise will not appear until April or may.

In 2020, China's steel bar output was 266.391 million tons.

Under the action of many factors, the short-term rebar price is easy to fall but difficult to rise.

Baowu produced 96mn t of steel in 2019 to overtake Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, which produced 89.8mn t, as the world's largest steelmaker.

"[Rail operator] Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is cancelling many trains," said one supplier.

According to the Wuhan Shipping Exchange, the ships overstocking in some ports continued this week.

The company plans to produce up to 160000 tons of new products from the second half of 2022.