According to the SMM survey, as of March 19, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 surveyed steel mills was 87.25%, up 0.64 percentage points MoM. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces stood at 88.58%, up 0.82 percentage points MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sample steel mills was 2.3909 million mt, up 19,000 mt MoM.
During this period, three blast furnaces were newly taken offline for maintenance, while four blast furnaces resumed production. The blast furnaces under maintenance were mainly located in Hebei and Henan, whereas the resumed ones were concentrated in Jiangsu and Jiangxi. Following the conclusion of an important meeting, previously idled blast furnaces gradually resumed operations. Coupled with moderate steel mill profits, the overall production willingness of steel mills was strong, leading to an upward trend in pig iron production. Looking ahead to the next period, according to SMM statistics, no blast furnaces are scheduled for maintenance, while four blast furnaces are expected to resume production, with these activities primarily concentrated in Hebei. Currently, finished steel sales remain moderate, and steel mills' overall production enthusiasm has improved compared to the previous period. While pig iron production is expected to continue rising, temporary maintenance plans at certain steel mills may result in lower-than-expected production increases.
