On Monday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, the world's largest steel producer, said in a statement that the country planned to significantly increase iron ore production and increase its use of scrap steel, as part of a plan to develop a greener and more efficient steel industry of higher quality.

Under the plan, more than 80% of steel capacity was expected to complete ultra-low emissions retrofit by 2025, and carbon emissions from the steel industry were expected to reach peak before 2030.

The plan also aimed to increase electric arc furnace production to account for more than 15% of China's total crude steel production by 2025. Electric arc furnace production accounted for about 10% of total production in 2020.