China will produce 350 million tons of steel this year and the country's consumption of steel is expected to see steady, not rapid, growth, an official at the China Iron and Steel Association has said.

Domestic steel consumption growth dropped from 28 percent in 2003 to 15 percent last year, Qi Xiangdong, vice secretary-general of the association, was quoted by Wednesday's Economic Daily as saying.

He predicted at a meeting here on Tuesday domestic steel consumption would reach 343.83 million tons this year, an increase of 31.53 million tons over 2004, up 10.1 percent, on the basis that China's GDP would grow 8 percent and the investment in fixed assets would increase 16 percent this year.

He said that the price of steel would remain high this year due to sustained global economic development and short supply of panel,

According to the meeting, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, China made a historic breakthrough in imports and exports of steel last year due to the implementation of measures aimed at promoting structural adjustment in the country's iron and steel industry, which started in 2002.

China imported 29.3 million tons of iron and steel last year, down 21.1 percent over the previous year, while exports reached 14.23 million tons, up 104.6 percent, reported Economic Daily.

Statistics from the China Iron and Steel Industrial Association show that in the first two months of this year, China imported 530,000 tons of steel, a decrease of 90.6 percent over the same period of 2004. Its imports of panel steel reduced to 1.78 million tons in the January-February period this year from 3.65 million tons during the same period last year, down 67.2 percent.

China's steel output has ranked first in the world for nine consecutive years, accounting for 14 percent of the world's total.