BEIJING -- China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) predicts the country's annual demand for crude steel will rise to between 670 million and 750 million tons in 2015.

The figures are 11.8 percent and 25.1 percent higher compared with the 2010 level, said Luo Bingsheng, CISA's deputy Party chief, at a forum Sunday.

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The prediction based on an assumption that China's economy will register an annual growth rate between 8 percent and 9 percent during the 12th Five-year Plan period (2011-2015), Luo said.

Luo also noted that as steel mills are highly energy-intensive, they are expected to bear the brunt of worsening power shortages this summer.

"As the summer peak draws near, the power shortage will worsen with more rationing measures, which is expected to affect the steel-making industry from June to September," he said.

According to government statistics, the country's crude steel output rose 9.6 percent year-on-year to 626.96 million tons in 2010.