Looking at the domestic steel industry layout in CHINA, from Baosteel’s Zhanjiang base and Guangdong Southern Donghai to Tangshan, Yunfu, and other locations, EAF short-process projects are accelerating their implementation, with a continuous stream of good news regarding commencement, ignition, and production. This concentrated construction boom is not a short-term, accidental phenomenon in the industry, but rather a steel smelting revolution centered on green, low-carbon, and efficient production, rapidly unfolding across the country.
From the successful completion of Baosteel’s million-ton-level near-zero-carbon smelting production line in Zhanjiang, to Donghua Steel’s investment of nearly 10 billion yuan in EAF capacity, and the commissioning of the large-scale smelting project in Guangdong Southern Donghai, EAF short-process projects are being launched at an unprecedented pace, becoming a core driver of the steel industry’s low-carbon transformation.
1,EAF Expansion in Progress
Since the second half of 2025, the release of new EAF capacity has not slowed down.On August 4, 2025, Guangdong Southern Donghai Steel’s 1650mm hot-rolled coil production line officially commenced operation, with the electric arc furnace successfully ignited. The finished hot-rolled coils have a thickness of 1.2-19mm and a width of 700-1300mm, with an annual capacity of 4 million tons. This production line primarily uses scrap steel as raw material, aiming to create a well-equipped, green, and intelligent steel base.
In September 2025, five departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, jointly issued the “Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Steel Industry (2025-2026),” explicitly supporting qualified regions to phase out the blast furnace-converter long process and develop the electric arc furnace short process, and encouraging the promotion of advanced electric arc furnaces, special smelting equipment, and other high-end equipment.
By 2026: Zhongtian Steel has invested over 3 billion yuan in a near-zero carbon electric arc furnace high-quality steel project, expected to reach full production in 2026, and will also be equipped with an integrated wind, solar, and energy storage smart energy system.
Shougang Group is simultaneously developing a near-zero carbon high-quality steel smelting project, with a total investment of 990 million yuan. The project includes the construction of a new 160-ton electric arc furnace (EAF). Once operational, this production line will have an annual capacity of 1.3 million tons of automotive steel plates, reducing carbon emissions per ton of steel by over 60%, and achieving an annual CO2 reduction of 1.43 million tons, providing a model for the low-carbon transformation of long-process steel mills.
2,Why are so many companies building EAF?
The core reasons for the popularity of EAF can be summarized in two aspects: environmental and economic.
First, let’s look at the environmental benefits. The short-process EAF, using scrap steel as raw material, directly eliminates high-polluting stages such as sintering, coking, and ironmaking, resulting in a significant advantage in carbon emissions compared to long-process steelmaking. Donghua Steel is a typical example: it invested nearly 2 billion yuan to build two new 110-ton EAFs. After completion, the overall energy consumption per ton of steel decreased by 62%, reducing CO2 emissions by 2.3793 million tons annually, and achieving a green steel ratio of 30%.
Baosteel Zhanjiang, a leading enterprise in China’s low-carbon metallurgy industry, plays a prominent role in industry leadership. On December 23, 2025, China’s first million-ton-level hydrogen-based vertical shaft furnace paired with a near-zero carbon electric arc furnace production line was successfully put into full operation. This production line establishes an integrated low-carbon smelting process chain, deeply integrating the million-ton-level hydrogen-based vertical shaft furnace with high-efficiency electric arc furnace technology, achieving a carbon emission reduction of 50%-80%, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by over 3.14 million tons annually, equivalent to the carbon sequestration capacity of adding 2,000 square kilometers of forest. Industry experts stated that the project’s implementation is a landmark breakthrough in the green and low-carbon transformation of my country’s steel industry.
In Southwest China, the Metallurgical Control Group has already built 14 intelligent electric arc furnaces with an annual output of 11.49 million tons, investing over 4 billion yuan in ultra-low emission retrofitting alone. Particulate matter emissions per ton of steel are controlled below 5 mg/m³, and wastewater discharge is zero. As China’s first privately-owned short-process steelmaking enterprise with a capacity of over 10 million tons, the China Metallurgical Holding Group (CMIG) has proven through practice that short-process steelmaking is not only feasible but also highly efficient and environmentally friendly.
This is driving the intelligent upgrading of the entire steel supply chain.
CMIG has taken the lead in deploying the “1+9” industrial internet platform, leveraging artificial intelligence technology to transform the entire production process. The accuracy of intelligent scrap steel identification and grading has improved by 30%, and the logistics cost per ton of steel has simultaneously decreased by 20 to 30 yuan. The Angang titanium plate-specific electric heating furnace was completed and put into operation in May 2026. The equipment effectively addresses the company’s shortcomings in the R&D and mass production of high-end special steel, further strengthening the core competitiveness of high-end products.
For steel companies that have not yet deployed electric furnaces, this construction boom sends a very clear signal: carbon constraints will only become stricter, and the old path of low cost and high emissions is no longer viable. Early implementation of an integrated “green steel + green electricity” solution can give them a head start in the race to achieve dual carbon targets.
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