Blast Furnace Operating Rates Fall as More Steel Mills Undertake Maintenance to Tackle Losses

SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, the average operating rate of steel mills’ blast furnaces slid 1.49 percentage point from a week ago to 90.63% as of January 4. The average capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces also slid 1.14 percentage points week-on-week to 91.38%. The daily average pig iron output of steel mills in SMM’s survey sample stood at 2.19 million mt this week, a drop of 27,300 mt from the previous week. SMM estimates that the daily average pig iron output across the country stood at 2.6 million mt, down 32,600 mt on a weekly basis.