[SMM Blast Furnace Operating Rate] Steel mill losses impact overall hot metal production, which edges down

According to an SMM survey, on September 9, the operating rate of blast furnaces at the 242 steel mills tracked by SMM stood at 89.08%, down 0.48 percentage points MoM. The blast furnace capacity utilization rate was 88.69%, down 0.19 percentage points MoM. The daily average hot metal production of sampled steel mills was 2.4028 million mt, down 5,200 mt MoM.

According to this week's SMM survey, a total of four blast furnaces underwent maintenance during the period, mainly in Shanxi and Fujian; over the same period, four blast furnaces resumed production, concentrated in Hebei and Yunnan. Blast furnaces that had previously undergone maintenance mostly resumed production on schedule, but steel mill losses have continued to deepen recently, increasing the willingness to conduct maintenance, and overall hot metal production has trended downward. Looking ahead to next week, SMM tracking data indicates that hot metal production may edge up slightly, but given that steel mill loss pressure has yet to ease, ad hoc maintenance may increase, and the increase in hot metal is expected to fall short of expectations.