China's large and medium-sized steel mills suffered losses of 53.1 billion yuan ($8.18 billion) in the first eleven months of 2015, according to China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

Of the 101 steel mills tracked by the CISA, the total sales revenue stood at 2.66 trillion yuan, down 19.3 percent from the previous year, according to the CISA report cited by the China Securities Journal.

Steel prices have fallen from nearly 6,000 yuan per tonne to 1,600 yuan per tonne in the past two years, quite a painful experience for the steel producers, said Zhang Yichen, an analyst with Yongan Futures Research Academy.

In the first eleven months of 2015, China's crude steel production dropped 2.2 percent year on year to 738.38 million tonnes, latest data from the National Development and Reform Commission showed.

Liu Xinwei, an analyst with sci99.com, forecast the steel market will continue to be weak in 2016 mainly due to the flagging property sector.