1. Top-Level Policy Support Strengthens, Anchoring Low-Carbon Quality Improvement and High-Quality Development
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's steel industry takes green low-carbon development, quality upgrading and intelligent manufacturing as its core orientation. A number of policies clarify the development path for the refining furnace industry from the dimensions of energy efficiency improvement, process upgrading and structural adjustment.
At the national level, the 15th Five-Year Plan for Green and Low-Carbon Industrial Development explicitly proposes to accelerate the development of short-process steelmaking, promote high-efficiency secondary refining processes, and improve the supply capacity of high-end steel. The Notice on Launching the Three-Year Action for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Transformation in Key Industries lists the secondary refining process as a priority for energy-saving transformation, requiring the promotion of high-efficiency refining equipment and waste heat recovery technologies. By 2028, more than 50% of refining process capacity in key iron and steel enterprises will meet the energy efficiency benchmark, and backward and inefficient equipment will be phased out gradually. Meanwhile, the steel industry capacity replacement policy continues to tighten, supporting equivalent replacement of converters with electric arc furnaces. The rapid expansion of EAF short-process capacity directly drives new and renewal demand for supporting refining furnace equipment.
In terms of high-end steel development, with the rapid growth in demand for high-strength steel, electrical steel, stainless steel and other special steels from downstream sectors such as new energy, high-end equipment and offshore engineering, secondary refining has become standard in steelmaking. Industry data shows that the refining ratio of domestic high-end special steel grades has risen from 35% in 2020 to 52% in 2025. The penetration of RH vacuum refining, LF refining and other processes continues to increase, driving refining furnace equipment to upgrade toward large scale, multi-function and intelligence.
In terms of the standard system, China has established a national standard system for refining furnaces covering all categories including LF, RH, VD and VOD. Technical specifications for large-tonnage, intelligent and energy-saving products continue to be improved, with multiple energy efficiency and quality indicators reaching the international advanced level, providing technical support for domestic equipment to participate in global competition.
2. Steady Market Expansion with Dual Drivers of Structural Upgrading and Export Growth
Currently, China's refining furnace equipment market presents a triple growth pattern of "domestic stock transformation + new capacity release + accelerated overseas exports", maintaining high industry prosperity.
In the domestic market, China's refining furnace equipment market reached RMB 10.28 billion in 2025, up 8.7% year on year; it is expected to reach RMB 11.06 billion in 2026, maintaining a steady growth trend. The product structure continues to upgrade toward high-end: large-tonnage refining furnaces above 100 tons account for 58.3%, and orders for multi-functional refining equipment with vacuum treatment, composition fine-tuning and precise temperature control functions account for more than 62%. Among them, RH vacuum refining furnaces see the fastest growth, with a market size increase of 15.2% year on year in 2025, making it the fastest-growing segment in the industry.
Demand is driven by multiple factors: first, capacity expansion of EAF short-process steelmaking. In 2025, 92% of new and technically transformed EAF projects in China were equipped with refining furnaces, and each production line generally adopts the "EAF + LF refining + continuous casting" process route. Second, upgrading of stock equipment. Refining furnaces with a service life of more than 12 years have entered a peak period of intelligent and energy efficiency transformation, with an annual transformation market size of over RMB 3.5 billion. Third, demand from high-end special steels. Capacity expansion of high-end steel grades such as automotive steel, wind turbine steel and electrical steel drives rapid growth in demand for RH vacuum refining, VD/VOD vacuum degassing and other equipment, becoming a new growth engine for the industry.
Overseas markets serve as the core growth engine of the industry. According to industry statistics, China's refining furnace equipment exports reached RMB 815 million in 2025, up 25.3% year on year; it is expected to reach RMB 1.02 billion in 2026, continuing the high growth trend. Export products are mainly medium and large LF refining furnaces and RH vacuum refining equipment above 80 tons, mainly flowing to countries along the Belt and Road such as Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, to meet local steel industry capacity expansion and quality upgrading needs. Notably, domestic equipment has successfully broken into the EU high-end market. In June 2026, Sinosteel International won the bid for a 320-ton twin-station ladle refining furnace project at ArcelorMittal Dunkirk Steel Plant in France, marking China's refining furnace technology has been recognized by the world's top steel enterprises.
3. Multiple Technological Breakthroughs, High-End Equipment Achieves Independent Controllability
After years of technological accumulation, China's refining furnace technology has evolved from following to keeping pace with, and leading in some fields, achieving core breakthroughs in large-tonnage equipment, vacuum refining processes and intelligent control.
In the field of large-tonnage high-end equipment, domestic core equipment has achieved full independence. In February 2026, China National Heavy Machinery Research Institute won the EPC turnkey contract for a 210-ton RH vacuum refining furnace at Jingye Group Huaxi Special Steel. The project adopts the independently developed "three-car five-position" RH vacuum refining process and dry mechanical pump technology, which can significantly improve molten steel purity and production efficiency while delivering energy-saving and consumption-reducing benefits. Upon completion, it will help the enterprise expand into the high-end special steel market. In the field of ladle refining furnaces, the domestic 320-ton twin-station LF refining furnace has been applied in engineering projects, with multiple functions including heating, alloying, desulfurization and composition fine-tuning. It can meet the efficient production demand of 100-ton class large converters and large EAFs, with main technical parameters reaching the international advanced level.
In the field of process technology innovation, a number of original technologies have broken foreign monopolies. To address the industry pain point of long RH refining cycles, domestic enterprises have developed fast-cycle control technology. Through high-flow lifting gas dynamic regulation, precise vacuum control and process synergy optimization, the decarburization time for ultra-low carbon steel is shortened from 18.2 minutes to 14.0 minutes, and the average station cycle time of RH is reduced from 34.1 minutes to 27.1 minutes, increasing production efficiency by more than 20%. Meanwhile, multi-stage flue gas treatment technology and dry vacuum pump set optimization technology continue to make breakthroughs. System power consumption is reduced to below 3 kWh per ton of steel, and dust concentration is controlled within 5 mg/m³, reaching the world's leading environmental protection level.
In the field of intelligent upgrading, digital twin and AI technologies have been deeply applied throughout the whole process. The domestic intelligent refining system integrates functions such as automatic temperature measurement and sampling robots, one-click vacuum treatment, dynamic composition prediction and fault warning. Matched with a secondary metallurgy model, it enables one-click operation and remote centralized control of the refining process, reducing staffing by 50% and increasing the molten steel composition hit rate to over 98.5%. Some enterprises have also introduced digital twin technology to conduct real-time simulation and optimal control of the temperature field, flow field and composition field in the refining process, greatly improving product quality stability and production efficiency.
4. Full Industrial Chain Advantages Highlighted, Chinese Equipment Accelerates Global Layout
The rapid rise of China's refining furnace 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 industrial chain perspective, China has built a complete industrial ecosystem from core components and refractory materials to complete machine manufacturing, engineering design, installation and commissioning, and operation & maintenance services. The localization rate of core components such as furnace steel structures, vacuum chambers, electrode lifting devices and intelligent control systems has exceeded 90%. Key refractory materials such as magnesia-carbon bricks and immersion tubes are independently supplied. The equipment investment cost per unit capacity has decreased by 16.2% compared with 2020. Leading enterprises such as China National Heavy Machinery Research Institute, Sinosteel International and MCC Jingcheng have full-process EPC turnkey capabilities, providing integrated services from process design and equipment manufacturing to installation, commissioning and production ramp-up.
In terms of delivery and service capabilities, domestic enterprises can quickly respond to customers' customized needs by relying on large-scale production and flexible manufacturing capabilities. According to different working conditions, steel grade requirements and standards of overseas projects, enterprises can complete scheme design and manufacturing within 2–3 months, with delivery cycles significantly shorter than the 12–18 months of European and American manufacturers. Meanwhile, leading enterprises have established overseas service networks, providing full-process services such as on-site installation, commissioning training, remote operation and maintenance, and spare parts supply, solving customers' worries.
In terms of overseas expansion mode, domestic refining furnaces are upgrading from single product export to an integrated solution of "process + equipment + service + digitalization". Many enterprises combine domestic steel engineering experience to provide overseas customers with complete short-process plant solutions of "EAF + refining furnace + continuous casting", driving the simultaneous export of supporting equipment and technical services. Since 2026, domestic enterprises have successively won metallurgical turnkey projects in Egypt, France, Turkey, Indonesia and other countries. As the core process equipment, refining furnaces are exported in batches along with the entire production line, with continuously improving global market recognition.
5. Industry Outlook: Long Prosperity Cycle Established, Broad Space for Global Cooperation
Overall, against the backdrop of global low-carbon transformation and high-end upgrading of the steel industry, the refining furnace industry is at the starting point of a long prosperity cycle. In the short term, with the continuous expansion of domestic EAF short-process capacity, accelerated energy efficiency transformation of stock equipment, and the accelerated industrialization process of countries along the Belt and Road, the industry will maintain steady growth. In the medium and long term, with the development of hydrogen metallurgy, near-zero carbon smelting and smart factory technologies, refining furnaces will upgrade toward larger tonnage, higher efficiency, higher intelligence and lower emissions. Application scenarios will also continue to expand from traditional steelmaking to special alloys, recycled metals, solid waste treatment and other fields.
For the global market, China's mature refining furnace manufacturing capacity, rich engineering experience and cost-effective solutions can provide strong support for the low-carbon transformation and quality upgrading of the steel industry in various countries. In the future, there will be expanding space for Sino-foreign industrial cooperation in fields such as EAF-matched refining lines, intelligent transformation of old equipment, and high-end special steel production upgrading. China's refining furnace equipment will also play a more important role in the global metallurgical equipment market.