CITIC Pacific Special Steel is a global leader that specialises in the manufacture of specialty steel, with an annual production capacity of approximately 20 million tonnes. Its six major products1 are widely used in automotive components, energy, machinery manufacturing, oil and petrochemicals, transportation, shipbuilding and other industrial sectors.
In 2025, faced with a complex environment characterised by deep structural adjustments in industry supply and demand and pressures from transformation and upgrading, CITIC Pacific Special Steel continued to consolidate its leading position in the industry. It achieved a new record high in steel sales volume, took solid steps in advancing its internationalisation strategy, and promoted the deep integration of digital and intelligent technologies with its special steel business, striving to build a world-leading intelligent special steel enterprise.
Steady growth in scale and improved quality of steel production and sales. The annual steel sales volume reached 19.538 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%; exports reached 2.303 million tonnes, up 4.6% year on year. High-end new products, such as bearing steel for high-speed railways and steel for deep-well drilling, injected new momentum into profit growth. Sales of the three key wire rod products—steel for high-strength fasteners, bearing steel wire rods, and spring steel for automobiles—increased by 27%, 21% and 70%, respectively. Sixty-eight “little giant” projects² achieved a total sales volume of 7.81 million tonnes, representing a year-on-year increase of 6%. Among these, products such as ultra-high-strength steel plates increased by 91.7% year on year and 13Cr oil well pipes increased by 25.4% year on year. Sales of “Two Highs and One Special” products³ continued to grow, with a 21% year-on-year increase. Sales of “Three-New”⁴ varieties in fields such as wind power bearings and moulds for new energy vehicles increased by over 100% year on year, while orders for nickel-based superalloy GH4169 grew by 500% year on year.
Breakthroughs in R&D of new products across multiple fields. CITIC Pacific Special Steel successfully developed three world-first products, including 150mm-thick 460MPa high-performance ultra-thick steel plates for building structures. It overcame technical challenges regarding high-pressure corrosion environments for special steel plates and completed the first supply for hydrogen pipelines and other applications. Fifteen products, including steel for aviation fasteners, achieved self-sufficient domestic supply. It overcame key process technology challenges for high-nitrogen stainless steel for aviation pipelines and high-pressure pipelines for ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) units, and independently developed U165 steel-grade ultra-high strength and toughness drill pipes, filling a domestic gap. The market shares of steel for high-strength cables and steel for special welding wires remained the highest in China. Core technologies in key fields, such as high-temperature carburising control for gear steel and online controlled rolling and cooling for bearing steel bars, were successfully mastered. Cutting-edge products like 2460MPa ultra-high-strength pre-stressed steel strands were developed. The development of pipes for deep-earth engineering supported the “Shendi Chuanke 1 Well,” the world’s most challenging deep-earth exploration project, which exceeded a drilling depth of 10,000 metres. Bearing steel for aero-engines entered the supply chain of European and American aero-engine manufacturers and was successfully applied in the international civil aviation field, earning a Special Contribution Award from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
Support for major engineering projects through independent R&D achievements. Ultra-high-strength steel cables for bridges were successfully applied in mega-projects, including the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge and the Huajiang Canyon Bridge in Guizhou. Breakthroughs in the industrialisation involving core technologies in key fields were achieved in five areas across critical sectors such as aviation, deep-sea engineering and high-end equipment manufacturing. Fifteen key projects were approved as national major science and technology projects. 
Solid steps in international layout. CITIC Pacific Special Steel promoted a full industrial chain layout encompassing “Resources+R&D+Manufacturing+Trade+Service”. Its subsidiary signed the Property Rights Transaction Contract with Guangzhou Airport Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd. to acquire 100% of the equity interest in Prosperity Kingsfield Limited, and through Prosperity Kingsfield Limited, it wholly owns Stemcor Global Holdings Limited, one of the world’s three largest independent steel trading companies to create a global steel trading platform integrating warehousing, processing, distribution and trade services. Utilising an innovative “asset-light” model, CITIC Pacific Special Steel signed contract manufacturing agreements to establish overseas processing bases for high-end steel bars. The European R&D Centre was established to conduct R&D on cutting-edge spray materials, aiming to seize the global high ground in special steel technological innovation. Potential investment projects, such as overseas production and manufacturing bases, were advanced to solidify the project pipeline for the internationalisation strategy.
In 2026, CITIC Pacific Special Steel will deepen its strategic layout and focus on industry development bottlenecks. It will actively undertake major scientific research tasks in fields such as aerospace, high-speed rail and large-scale wind power, striving to break through technical bottlenecks in key steel materials and accelerate the domestic substitution of high-end imported materials. CITIC Pacific Special Steel will deeply align with the needs of major national engineering projects, focusing on serving national-level key projects such as the Yarlung Tsangpo downstream hydropower project, and supporting the implementation of major national strategies with high-quality products and professional services. Meanwhile, it will continue to strengthen original innovation and R&D in disruptive technologies, proactively positioning itself in emerging tracks such as commercial aerospace to strive for the high ground of industry development.
Steady growth in scale and improved quality of steel production and sales. The annual steel sales volume reached 19.538 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%; exports reached 2.303 million tonnes, up 4.6% year on year. High-end new products, such as bearing steel for high-speed railways and steel for deep-well drilling, injected new momentum into profit growth. Sales of the three key wire rod products—steel for high-strength fasteners, bearing steel wire rods, and spring steel for automobiles—increased by 27%, 21% and 70%, respectively. Sixty-eight “little giant” projects² achieved a total sales volume of 7.81 million tonnes, representing a year-on-year increase of 6%. Among these, products such as ultra-high-strength steel plates increased by 91.7% year on year and 13Cr oil well pipes increased by 25.4% year on year. Sales of “Two Highs and One Special” products³ continued to grow, with a 21% year-on-year increase. Sales of “Three-New”⁴ varieties in fields such as wind power bearings and moulds for new energy vehicles increased by over 100% year on year, while orders for nickel-based superalloy GH4169 grew by 500% year on year.
Breakthroughs in R&D of new products across multiple fields. CITIC Pacific Special Steel successfully developed three world-first products, including 150mm-thick 460MPa high-performance ultra-thick steel plates for building structures. It overcame technical challenges regarding high-pressure corrosion environments for special steel plates and completed the first supply for hydrogen pipelines and other applications. Fifteen products, including steel for aviation fasteners, achieved self-sufficient domestic supply. It overcame key process technology challenges for high-nitrogen stainless steel for aviation pipelines and high-pressure pipelines for ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) units, and independently developed U165 steel-grade ultra-high strength and toughness drill pipes, filling a domestic gap. The market shares of steel for high-strength cables and steel for special welding wires remained the highest in China. Core technologies in key fields, such as high-temperature carburising control for gear steel and online controlled rolling and cooling for bearing steel bars, were successfully mastered. Cutting-edge products like 2460MPa ultra-high-strength pre-stressed steel strands were developed. The development of pipes for deep-earth engineering supported the “Shendi Chuanke 1 Well,” the world’s most challenging deep-earth exploration project, which exceeded a drilling depth of 10,000 metres. Bearing steel for aero-engines entered the supply chain of European and American aero-engine manufacturers and was successfully applied in the international civil aviation field, earning a Special Contribution Award from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
Support for major engineering projects through independent R&D achievements. Ultra-high-strength steel cables for bridges were successfully applied in mega-projects, including the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge and the Huajiang Canyon Bridge in Guizhou. Breakthroughs in the industrialisation involving core technologies in key fields were achieved in five areas across critical sectors such as aviation, deep-sea engineering and high-end equipment manufacturing. Fifteen key projects were approved as national major science and technology projects.
Intelligent control hall
In-depth advancement of intelligent manufacturing. CITIC Pacific Special Steel constructed a special steel large language model platform with a “1+1+N” vertical model technical architecture. Its subsidiaries, Xingcheng Special Steel, Daye Special Steel and Qingdao Special Steel, passed the Level 4 assessment for intelligent manufacturing maturity. Core business systems, including the digital marketing centre and the centralised supervision platform, were completed. More than 120 applications were independently developed, achieving 100% digitalisation of core businesses. The numerical control rate of key processes reached 85.76%, while the digitalisation rate of production equipment reached 90.39% and industrial robot density increased to 240 units per 10,000 employees.
CITIC Pacific Special Steel added one national-level single champion product and one special prize for metallurgical science and technology. It was granted 499 patents, issued 33 national or industry standards, and won 16 provincial or ministerial-level science and technology awards.
Solid steps in international layout. CITIC Pacific Special Steel promoted a full industrial chain layout encompassing “Resources+R&D+Manufacturing+Trade+Service”. Its subsidiary signed the Property Rights Transaction Contract with Guangzhou Airport Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd. to acquire 100% of the equity interest in Prosperity Kingsfield Limited, and through Prosperity Kingsfield Limited, it wholly owns Stemcor Global Holdings Limited, one of the world’s three largest independent steel trading companies to create a global steel trading platform integrating warehousing, processing, distribution and trade services. Utilising an innovative “asset-light” model, CITIC Pacific Special Steel signed contract manufacturing agreements to establish overseas processing bases for high-end steel bars. The European R&D Centre was established to conduct R&D on cutting-edge spray materials, aiming to seize the global high ground in special steel technological innovation. Potential investment projects, such as overseas production and manufacturing bases, were advanced to solidify the project pipeline for the internationalisation strategy.
In 2026, CITIC Pacific Special Steel will deepen its strategic layout and focus on industry development bottlenecks. It will actively undertake major scientific research tasks in fields such as aerospace, high-speed rail and large-scale wind power, striving to break through technical bottlenecks in key steel materials and accelerate the domestic substitution of high-end imported materials. CITIC Pacific Special Steel will deeply align with the needs of major national engineering projects, focusing on serving national-level key projects such as the Yarlung Tsangpo downstream hydropower project, and supporting the implementation of major national strategies with high-quality products and professional services. Meanwhile, it will continue to strengthen original innovation and R&D in disruptive technologies, proactively positioning itself in emerging tracks such as commercial aerospace to strive for the high ground of industry development.
1
Alloy steel bars, special medium and thick plates, special seamless steel tubes, special-metallurgy forgings, alloy steel wire rods and large round alloy steel billets.
2
“Little giant” project products are characterised by long certification cycles, high technical barriers, high quality standard requirements, high market share in niche sectors, and high average gross margins.
3
High-temperature corrosion-resistant alloy, high-strength steel and special stainless steel.
4
New knowledge, new technology, and new concepts.