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Key takeaways:
The 2025 sales target now stands at 32.3 million units, up by 3% from 2024. Of which, the sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) are projected to reach 15.5 million units, up by 20% from in 2024.
Chinese automobile sales totaled 31.44 million units in 2024. With that of NEV at 12.87 million units. This was according to data published by China Association of Automotive Manufacturers (CAAM).
“The target can be achieved easily because the first eight months have a sharp year-on-year increase,” an industry analyst said.
China’s automobile production totaled 21.05 million units in the first eight months of 2025. It was up by 12.7% or 2.37 million units from 18.68 million units during the same period a year earlier. Sales totaled 21.13 million units in the same period. And were up by 12.6% or 2.37 million units year on year from 18.76 million units.
Market participants told Fastmarkets that the country’s latest targets were in line with expectations. But they were also of the view that it may not lead to stronger steel demand.“Prices of hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil, which are used in auto making, weren’t stimulated to increase by the MITT’s notice,” a steel trader based in Shanghai said.
Fastmarkets’ daily assessment for steel hot-rolled coil domestic, ex-whs Eastern China was at 3,410-3,420 yuan ($479-481) per tonne on Monday September 15. It was up by 20 yuan per tonne from 3,390-3,400 yuan per tonne on Friday September 12 due to the bullish sentiment caused by expectations of capping steel capacity.
Meanwhile, the high inventories in the spot market and a lack of recovery in demand weighed on the CRC and HDG markets, according to sources.Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil domestic, ex-whs Eastern China was at 3,800-3,840 yuan per tonne on Friday. And down by 10-30 yuan per tonne from 3,830-3,850 yuan per tonne a week earlier on September 5.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, ex-whs Eastern China was at 4,100-4,150 yuan per tonne on Friday. This was unchanged from a week earlier.
“The increase in the annual target was even lower than the pace seen during the January-August period, which could lead to bearish expectations toward the demand for HRC, CRC and HDG for the rest of this year,” a trader based in Hangzhou said.
There are also expectations among market participants that the higher target for NEV sales could support the demand for electrical steel in the long term, sources told Fastmarkets.
China produced 9.63 million units of NEV in the first eight months of 2025. Production was up by 37.3% or 2.62 million units from 7.01 million units during the same period a year earlier. Sales of NEV totaled 9.62 million units in the same period. These were up by 36.7% or 2.58 million units year on year from 7.04 million units, according to CAAM.
“Brighter prospects of NEV led to a boost in investments into electrical steel production lines. The steel product has found itself in oversupply, with prices declining gradually in the past few months of this year,” a second steel trader in Shanghai said.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for electrical steel, non-grain oriented, ex-whs Eastern China was at $580-639 per tonne on September 12, compared with $581-630 per tonne on September 5. The price is down by $32-64 per tonne from $644-671 per tonne on January 3.
“The new capacity of NGOES launched in 2025 is estimated to exceed 3 million tonnes. The price competition seems inevitable though demand for the product is on an uptrend,” an industry analyst said.
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