A Chinese official said this week that a plan to boost the country’s steel industry by having the government buy and stockpile steel inventories is not going to be carried forth.

The idea was to buy as much as 15 million metric tons of steel and place that product in inventory for future use. However, with an annual consumption of 495 million tons, officials decided that the purchase was not enough to really impact the market.

Also influencing the decision were signs that the Chinese steel market, which like everything else has been shaken by slowing domestic and global demand in the face of the economic situation, is rebounding a bit based on China’s new stimulus program, which is focused on infrastructure projects and is consuming a lot of steel.

At a consumption rate of 495 million metric tons, China’s demand approximately equals it current production capacity.