S&P Global Platts stages many steel conferences and forums around the world, but regardless of the location China is invariably the dominating topic. And this was again the case at our Ferrous Forum in Tokyo and Steel Markets Asia conference in Mumbai, both held last month.

Within China, there is a sense that the steel industry is starting to cool off – with some industry participants going as far as to describe it as a “sunset industry.” But outside of China, competing steel countries would liken it more to the heat of the midday sun, with many companies feeling burnt by Chinese imports and overcapacity.

In Japan, if the audience felt like this they were too polite to say – that is until the cocktail hour at the end of the presentations, when some congenial lubrication allowed many inquiries and questions around China to emerge. Attendees wanted to know more about steel price trends; how Chinese mills had weathered the storm in the past year or two; how the Chinese steel industry felt about Beijing’s consolidation push; and whether mills had been affected by tighter environmental controls, among many more questions.

Japanese attendees took the opportunity to better understand their Chinese rivals – even though, on the face of it, steel mills in these two countries run their businesses very differently. Japanese mills typically stick to long-term upstream and downstream supply deals, and do their best to protect themselves from price volatility.

Chinese mills, on the other hand, are happy to enter the fray of spot pricing, including negotiating for premiums and discounts on monthly average indices, and participatin...