[Ferro-Alloys.com] China's steel production grew at its slowest rate in more than three decades in 2014 as a cooling economy in the world's largest producer curbed demand and the government moved to tackle overcapacity and pollution.

The low growth rate suggests China's authorities have had some success in efforts to lower production and close polluting plants, but analysts warned of possible upward revisions to the 2014 data, and still forecast a small rise in output in 2015.

"We still expect a marginal growth in steel production this year as the government has sped up approvals of infrastructure construction projects," said Sara Wang, an analyst with Masterlink Securities in Shanghai.

Output reached a record 822.7 million tons - about half of forecast global production - but was up just 0.9 percent on the previous year, the slowest growth rate since 1981, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Jan 20th, 2015.

Steel production has doubled in just eight years, with China driving its economy through the expansion of heavy industry, but this has led to severe overcapacity and hazardous pollution problems, particularly in northern regions.

In a move to improve air quality, the government has taken the toughest measures ever to order steel mills to curb production, while sharp falls in steel prices and high inventories have also forced some steel mills to rein in production.

• [Editor:Yueleilei]