According to the SMM survey, as of April 23, the operating rate of blast furnaces in 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.58%, up 0.8 percentage points MoM. The capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces was 90.49%, up 0.66 percentage points MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4415 million mt, up 16,700 mt MoM.
During this period, 2 blast furnaces underwent maintenance, while 7 blast furnaces resumed production. The maintenance of blast furnaces was mainly concentrated in Shandong and Hebei, while the resumption of blast furnaces was mainly concentrated in Hebei, Jiangsu, and Shanxi. Currently, most blast furnaces in steel mills resumed production as planned, and pig iron production showed an upward trend. For the next week, according to SMM's current tracking, 1 blast furnace is expected to undergo maintenance, and 1 blast furnace is expected to resume production. The maintenance is mainly concentrated in Liaoning, while the resumption of blast furnaces is concentrated in Hubei. Currently, the pace of blast furnace maintenance and resumption has slowed down, and pig iron production from blast furnaces in steel mills has peaked. Entering May, pig iron production may begin to weaken.
