At last, the Chinese steel sector has moved to rectify errors in its reporting of steel production. However, there remains much more work to be done before the industry can show that it takes, seriously, the need to provide accurate statistics. 

The interested parties include raw material suppliers, steel consumers, local government officials responsible for environmental issues and many other associations which need to assess future trends within the industry.

Whereas the accuracy of the crude steel output data has been improved for the 2013 calendar year, historic figures are unchanged – thus creating false information about growth rates. Furthermore, pig iron production statistics have not been updated. This means that the relationship between iron making and steel manufacturing is not correctly presented.

It would appear that the authorities who have been given the responsibility for the collection of steel statistics have little regard for the accuracy of the data or the needs of the institutions which require such information for guidance in their predictions.

Typically, accurate growth trends in iron and steel production gives valuable information about future investment required to prevent excessive air and water pollution. With better information in the past about real steel production, perhaps, the current situation in Hebei Province could have been avoided. More accurate steel output data may have flagged up the large amount of air pollution likely to come from both the old and new capacity being installed.