China's steel consumption will peak at 740 million tonnes in 2017, said Li Xingchuang, president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning Association, at a Platts steel conference in Shanghai on November 27.<br /> <br /> The forecast is well below the 1 billion tonne forecasts of Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, who all broadly believe Chinese steel consumption will not peak until beyond 2030.<br /> <br /> Li said it was "not realistic" to think that Chinese consumption would ever get beyond 1 billion tonnes.<br /> <br /> Li, who has been involved in the formulation of China’s five year plans, said steel consumption would increase by 3% this year to 710 million tonnes.<br /> <br /> In 2015 he predicts consumption growth will slow to 1.4%, before peaking at around 740 million tonnes in 2017.<br /> <br /> <p> Li said China's overall production would peak around 850 million tonnes in the coming years if exports could be maintained. He believes overall production will grow at 1.7% next year to around 834 million tonnes. </p> <p style="text-align:center;"> <img src="/upfiles/news/image/20141204/20141204140732_2793.jpg" alt="" /> </p>