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Images of China’s Steel Industry (30 photos)

For the past few years, Getty Images photographer Kevin Frayer has been covering China’s Steel production facilities, from massive state-run factories to private group facilities, to smaller, unauthorized and unregulated steel producers. China remains the world’s largest steel producer, producing more than 800 million metric tons of crude steel a year since 2014—50 percent of global supply. However, recent economic slowdowns, concerns about global oversupply, and crackdowns on toxic emissions have taken their toll—the Chinese government has vowed to cut production capacity at state-owned enterprises by up to 150 million tons over five years. These plans may be difficult to keep though, as they would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, and the price of steel appears to be on the rise again.

A worker takes samples for quality of molten iron outside a furnace at the Zhong Tian (Zenith) Steel Group Corporation on May 12, 2016 in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, China. Zhong Tian (Zenith) Steel Group Corporation is a privately-owned manufacturer that employs over 13,000 workers at its facility in Jiangsu province. (Kevin Frayer / Getty)
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/01/images-of-chinas-steel-industry/512165/