Compared to mature industrialized countries, the ratio of special steel to total steel output in China is very low. The top-quality special steel output in China amounted to 35.92 million tons in 2006, accounting for 8.5% in total output of coarse steel in China, while the share of top-quality special steel was about 15-20% in industrialized countries in the same period.

Currently, the ratios of common steel and quality steel in coarse steel output are high in China special steel enterprises, and special steel products only account for 30%. In quality special steel output, the majority is middle and low-end carbon steel and low alloy steel products, the ratio of high-end products is very low. According to the statistics from Jan to May of 2007, the ratio of high alloy steel to quality special steel is just 6.1%, but the proportion in Japan is about 26% in the same period.

In the aspect of domestic supply and demand, the supply of middle and low end special steel products is larger than the demand; high-quality and high-performance special products (mainly high-alloy module steel, tool steel and special high alloy) still depend on the import, while high-grade bearing steel and gear steel are imported indirectly by importing machinery equipment and parts.