Stabilizing steel industry growth with multiple measures promoting profitability will be key work for the China Iron and Steel Association in 2024, the top industry association said.

Tan Chengxu, president of the association, said in a report to the convention of the association recently in Beijing that stabilizing industry operations and preventing operational risk to propel growth quality and profitability will be the “top task”.

The association will strengthen steel industry operation supervision and prediction of market supply and demand, as well as enhance alert mechanisms for early problems, he said.

He also said the association will guide steel enterprises to properly arrange production and adjust product portfolios, to avoid a market selling unvaried commodities, including that among high-end products.

The industry association will also continue to call for the restoration of export tax rebates for high-end steel products.

Data from the association shows that during the first 11 months, China produced 925 million metric tons of crude steel, up 1.5 percent year-on-year.