China's property investment falls sixteen point two percent in the first five months of 2026, reaching three point zero three trillion yuan. New construction starts drop twenty-two point six percent, directly reducing steel demand across the country. The construction sector's share of total steel use has fallen from fifty-eight percent in 2020 to forty-nine percent in 2025. Chinese steelmakers cut production by nearly four percent in response, while the government pushes a new stabilisation plan to manage the sector's prolonged structural decline.