The country produced an estimate of 1.03 billion metric tons of steel last year, down 35 million tons from 2020, said the China Iron and Steel Association on Monday.

In the first 11 months of 2021, China's steel production reached 946 million tons, decreasing 2.6 percent year-on-year.

The steel and iron industry's combined profits surged 86.46 percent, year-on-year, to 351.7 billion yuan ($55.25 billion) during the January-November period last year as rising costs and demand pushed up prices.

Enterprises in the industry accelerated green and low-carbon transformation last year, with considerable reduction in energy consumption and sulfur dioxide emissions per tonne of steel produced, said the association.

This year, while investment in the real estate sector is expected to slow down but infrastructure investment will pick up, the total steel demand is likely to remain the same as last year, according to the association.