1. Top-level Policy Support Strengthens, Industry Shifts to Stock Upgrading and High-quality Development
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's iron and steel industry adheres to the policy orientation of "dual control of capacity and output", and promotes the transformation of continuous caster equipment from scale expansion to value improvement, with green low-carbon development, intelligent manufacturing and quality upgrading as the core.
The Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-quality Development of the Iron and Steel Industry, jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), clearly states that by 2027, the automation rate of slab casters in key large and medium-sized steel enterprises shall reach over 95%, and the proportion of production capacity above the energy efficiency benchmark level shall exceed 50%. Backward production capacity failing to meet the energy efficiency baseline will be phased out in accordance with laws and regulations.
Meanwhile, the Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Iron and Steel Industry (2025–2027) requires the intelligent retrofitting of all continuous casters with a service life of more than 15 years to be completed by the end of 2026, involving about 210 units of existing equipment, which will directly drive sustained demand for technical transformation and services.
In terms of supporting policies for short-process steelmaking, as the share of electric arc furnace (EAF) steel continues to rise, high-casting-speed, large-section and compact continuous casting and rolling integrated lines have become the mainstream choice for new projects. Industry data shows that about 28 million tons of new EAF steel capacity will be added in China in 2026, corresponding to more than 12 high-casting-speed, large-section billet/rectangular billet casters, with an average contract value of RMB 1.26 billion per unit, serving as the core support for new demand in the industry.
In terms of the standard system, China has established a national standard system for continuous caster equipment covering all categories including slabs, billets, round billets and shaped billets. A number of process and quality standards have become important references for international standards, providing technical support for domestic equipment to participate in global competition.
2. Steady Market Expansion with Highlighted Structural Advantages
Currently, China's continuous caster equipment market is characterized by "stock transformation as the main driver, growing high-end demand and accelerating export expansion". The industry growth momentum has shifted from new capacity to technological upgrading and overseas expansion.
In the domestic market, the market size of China's continuous caster equipment reached RMB 12.86 billion in 2025, up 4.3% year on year; it is expected to reach RMB 13.41 billion in 2026, maintaining steady growth. By the end of 2025, the number of continuous casters in operation nationwide reached 1,216 strands, and the continuous casting ratio stabilized at 98.2%, remaining above 98% for five consecutive years, marking that China has basically completed the process transformation from ingot casting to full continuous casting.
The product structure continues to upgrade toward high-end. Among newly delivered continuous caster units in 2025, intelligent models equipped with dynamic soft reduction, electromagnetic stirring and fully automatic mold level control accounted for 68.2%, while orders for traditional low-automation old models decreased by 23.4% year on year. Slab casters still dominate the market, accounting for 52.1% in 2025; billet casters accounted for 31.8%; and continuous casting equipment for shaped billets, thin slabs and special alloys rose to 16.1%, covering all steel grades including plain carbon steel, stainless steel, electrical steel, wind turbine steel and offshore engineering steel.
Overseas markets have become the core engine of industry growth. According to customs and industry association data, China's continuous caster equipment exports reached RMB 1.42 billion in 2025, up 22.6% year on year; 29 units of export orders were placed throughout the year, up 26.1% year on year, mainly flowing to countries along the Belt and Road such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Oman. Among exported products, models with remote operation and maintenance interfaces, multilingual human-machine interfaces and EU CE and ISO 14001 certifications accounted for 89.4%, indicating that domestic equipment is upgrading from hardware export to comprehensive output of "standards + services + ecosystem".
3. Multiple Technological Breakthroughs, High-end Equipment Achieves Independent Controllability
After years of technological accumulation, China's continuous casting technology has evolved from following to keeping pace with, and leading in some fields, achieving core breakthroughs in large section, high casting speed, intelligence and near-net-shape casting.
In the field of high-end equipment, domestic large-section extra-thick slab casters have achieved full independence. In January 2026, the No.5 extra-thick slab caster at Baowu Zhanjiang Steel was put into operation, with an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons of high-quality extra-thick slabs. It can stably produce high-strength structural steels such as wind turbine steel and bridge steel, with a localization rate of 95% for key equipment and systems. It adopts single-roll large reduction technology and intelligent models, which greatly improve the internal cleanliness and homogeneity of cast slabs.
The CSP slab caster upgrading project at Hunan Valin Lianyuan Steel, contracted by China National Heavy Machinery Research Institute (CNHMI), integrates independent core technologies such as intelligent automatic start-up, high-precision tundish level control and dynamic secondary cooling water control. It achieved full capacity immediately after commissioning and supports the production of medium and high-end steel grades such as high-grade electrical steel.
In the field of intelligent upgrading, digital twin and AI technologies have been deeply applied throughout the whole process. Baowu Group's "Smart Continuous Casting" system, based on multi-physics field coupling simulation and AI edge reasoning, realizes millisecond-level coordinated control of mold heat flow, secondary cooling water volume and straightening torque, which significantly reduces the center segregation index of cast slabs and shortens the switching time of multiple steel grades to less than 8 minutes, far exceeding the industry average.
The intelligent thermal control system installed on the No.6 caster at Shougang Jingtang Steel keeps the temperature field prediction error within ±15℃ and the solidification end prediction deviation within ±0.2 meters, raising the first-pass yield of slabs to 99.225%. Among newly delivered equipment in 2025, models meeting the "full-stack intelligence" standard accounted for 51.4%, and basic automation models have basically withdrawn from the market.
In terms of process and material innovation, technologies such as high-casting-speed continuous casting, electromagnetic stirring and near-net-shape continuous casting continue to make breakthroughs. The maximum casting speed of domestic small billet casters has reached 5.73 meters per minute, setting a new industry record. Original technologies such as pulse magneto-oscillation solidification homogenization and high-efficiency uniform heat transfer in molds have broken foreign monopolies and significantly improved the internal structure and surface quality of cast slabs. Meanwhile, supporting technologies such as long-life molds, low-loss refractory materials and eco-friendly mold fluxes continue to iterate, driving continuous reduction of energy consumption and solid waste generation in the continuous casting process.
4. Full Industrial Chain Advantages Highlighted, Chinese Equipment Accelerates Global Layout
The rapid rise of China's continuous caster equipment in the global market is rooted in a complete full industrial chain system, with multiple competitive advantages in technology, cost, delivery and EPC turnkey capability.
From the perspective of the industrial chain, China has formed a complete industrial cluster covering core components, complete machine manufacturing, engineering design, installation and commissioning, and operation and maintenance services. The localization rate of core components such as molds, segments, electromagnetic stirring devices and intelligent control systems has exceeded 92%, and the equipment investment cost per unit capacity has decreased by 14.3% compared with 2020. Leading enterprises such as CITIC Heavy Industries, MCC Jingcheng, China First Heavy Industries and CNHMI dominate the domestic market and also have overseas EPC turnkey capabilities, providing full-process services from plant design and process solutions to equipment delivery and production commissioning.
In terms of delivery and service capabilities, domestic enterprises have significantly shorter delivery cycles than European and American manufacturers, relying on large-scale production capacity and a mature supply chain. In response to the urgent needs of overseas projects, Chinese enterprises can compress the delivery cycle to within 6 months, while European and American manufacturers usually take 12 to 18 months. This advantage is particularly prominent in fast-growing markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Meanwhile, the proportion of value-added services such as remote operation and maintenance, digital twin commissioning and localized technical support continues to rise, accounting for 41.2% of orders in 2026.
In terms of overseas market layout, domestic continuous caster equipment has gradually expanded from traditional markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa to mid-to-high-end markets such as the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Since 2026, CNHMI has signed an overseas turnkey project for slab casting and hot rolled coil production lines, adopting a straight mold structure with a vertical bending section, compatible with the production of plain carbon steel, stainless steel and other steel grades. MCC Jingcheng undertook the second-phase continuous casting project of Indonesia Dexin Steel with a contract value of RMB 580 million, adopting a fully digital design and delivery model. Baowu Equipment, China First Heavy Industries and other enterprises have also successively won large orders from Vietnam, Serbia, Oman and other countries, and the global recognition of Chinese solutions continues to improve.
5. Industry Outlook: Long-cycle Upgrading Established, Broad Space for Global Cooperation
On the whole, China's continuous caster equipment industry has entered a high-quality development stage driven by both policy and technological innovation. In the short term, the intelligent transformation of existing domestic equipment and the demand for new EAF short-process supporting projects will continue to be released, and orders for steel industry upgrading along the Belt and Road will land intensively, maintaining steady growth of the industry. In the medium and long term, with the continuous iteration of near-net-shape casting, low-carbon casting and smart continuous casting technologies, as well as the rising demand for high-end steel from downstream sectors such as new energy, high-end equipment and offshore engineering, continuous caster equipment will upgrade toward higher precision, higher efficiency and higher added value.
For the global market, China's mature continuous caster manufacturing capacity, complete product system, rich engineering experience and cost-effective solutions can provide strong support for the low-carbon transformation and capacity upgrading of the global steel industry. In the future, there will be expanding space for Sino-foreign industrial cooperation in fields such as EAF-matched continuous casting lines, intelligent retrofitting of old equipment and green low-carbon process upgrading. China's continuous caster equipment will also play a more important role in the global metallurgical industry transformation.