According to the SMM survey, as of March 12, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 86.61%, up 0.28 percentage points MoM. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 87.76%, up 0.15 percentage points MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sample steel mills was 2.3719 million mt, up 7,900 mt MoM.
During this period, a total of four blast furnaces underwent maintenance, while nine blast furnaces resumed production. The blast furnaces under maintenance were mainly located in Hebei and Shanghai, while those resuming production were concentrated in Hebei. Following the conclusion of an important meeting, steel mills in Hebei that had temporarily halted production due to the meeting gradually resumed operations, leading to a slight increase in pig iron production. Looking ahead to the next period, according to SMM statistics, one blast furnace is planned for maintenance, and five blast furnaces are expected to resume production, with the resumption activities mainly concentrated in Shaanxi and Hebei. Currently, steel mill profits have slightly improved, finished steel shipments remain moderate, and the overall production enthusiasm of steel mills has improved compared to the previous period, with overall pig iron production showing an upward trend.
