According to the SMM survey, as of March 26, the blast furnace operating rate of 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 87.47%, up 0.22 percentage points MoM. The blast furnace capacity utilization rate was 89.23%, up 0.65 percentage points MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sample steel mills was 2.4085 million mt, up 17,600 mt MoM.
During this period, there were no new blast furnace maintenance activities, and 5 blast furnaces resumed production. The resumed blast furnaces were mainly concentrated in Hebei and Shandong regions. Currently, steel mill profits have improved, and the overall production willingness of steel mills is moderate. Some blast furnaces that underwent maintenance earlier resumed production as planned, and pig iron production showed an upward trend.
Looking ahead to the next period, according to SMM statistics, there will be no blast furnace maintenance activities, and 4 blast furnaces are expected to resume production. The resumption activities will mainly be concentrated in Hebei, Liaoning, and Xinjiang regions. However, considering that some regional steel mills have recently indicated production cuts, new blast furnace maintenance plans may be formulated, and the overall pig iron production increase may fall short of expectations.
