China's infrastructure push seen set to boost steel demand further in H2

China approved 14 airport projects with a total investment of Yuan 105.66 billion ($15.3 billion) over January-July, already 13% higher than the value of total approvals in 2019, according to S&P Global Platts analysis.

In addition, 22 railway and urban rail transport projects were approved over the seven-month period, with 16 more expected to be approved soon. The length of these projects combined is 5,801 km (3,604.6 miles), almost the same as the total length approved last year, Platts analysis showed.

Work on most of these projects is expected to start in the second half of 2020. Steel consumption from these newly approved projects, and from the construction of major rail and airport projects approved over 2016-2019, will reach about 23 million mt in 2020, up by 24% from 2019, according to Platts calculations.