Shockwaves from China’s Real Estate Implosion Hit Steel and Cement Industries

Hit hard by the property crisis, China’s cement industry is ‘in chaos,’ while steel oversupply roils markets at home and abroad.

Unfinished apartment buildings at China Evergrande Group's Health Valley development, on the outskirts of Nanjing, China, on Oct. 22, 2021. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

China’s real estate crisis is now directly impacting other sectors of the Chinese economy. Although the property implosion is affecting trade in a variety of construction materials, its first aftershocks may have been felt in the cement and steel industries.

In 2022, according to official data, a whopping 336 Chinese construction companies filed for reorganization bankruptcy. This worsened the crisis in the construction materials industry and led to inevitable price wars.