BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- China's steel industry has been accelerating the optimization of steel variety structure in pace with the adjustment and optimization of national industrial structures, the China Iron and Steel Industry Association (CISA) said Wednesday.

Data showed that in the first half of this year, the output of steel mostly used in construction, bridges and machinery dropped year on year, while that in areas including auto and ship manufacturing continued to grow.

Yao Lin, head of the association, said at a CISA council meeting that since the beginning of the year, China's steel sector has been coping with challenges, including an imbalance between market supply and demand, falling steel prices, high raw material prices and low economic efficiency.

The overall production and operation of the industry have remained generally stable, Yao said, adding that with the transformation and upgrading continuing to advance and the constantly optimized variety structure, the higher demand for steel products in the downstream industry was effectively met.

The steel industry's pace of green transformation has accelerated significantly, and intelligent manufacturing has been upgraded, he said.

Currently, the number of enterprises that use industrial internet technology to achieve smart production process control accounted for 79.6 percent of the total.

Yao said that the manufacturing industry will be the main driving force to support the steel sector.

The rapid development of new energy vehicles, the increase in orders for new energy-powered ships, and the accelerated renewal of old ships will support the demand for steel, and large-scale equipment renewal will also bring development opportunities for the equipment manufacturing industry, according to Yao.