[SMM blast furnace operating rate] Maintenance gradually increases, pig iron production still slightly declines

According to the SMM survey, as of June 11, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.15%, down 0.11 percentage point MoM. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 89.51%, down 0.05 percentage point MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4149 million mt, down 1,400 mt MoM.

During this period, two blast furnaces underwent maintenance, while one resumed production. The blast furnaces undergoing maintenance were mainly concentrated in Hebei and Fujian provinces, while those resuming production were mainly concentrated in Hubei province. After entering June, some steel mills began to formulate regular annual maintenance plans, and the overall pig iron production showed a downward trend. In addition, due to significant loss pressures, some steel mills in north-east and north-west China may also gradually formulate maintenance plans. Looking ahead to next week, no new blast furnace maintenance plans have been identified for the time being. However, given the current compression of overall steel mill profits and the impact of the crude steel output reduction policy, it is expected that the number of blast furnaces undergoing maintenance will gradually increase in the later period, and pig iron production may continue to decline.