[SMM Survey] Environmental Protection-Driven Production Restrictions Lead to a Slight Decline in Iron Ore Concentrates Production

According to SMM data, the capacity utilisation rate of domestic mines was 54.0% last week, down 1.4 percentage points WoW. Iron ore concentrates production stood at 721,000 mt, down 18,000 mt MoM. Additionally, mine concentrate inventory increased by 10,000 mt to 200,000 mt.
Last week, iron ore concentrates production continued to show a slight downward trend. Due to the impact of major meetings, mining and beneficiation production as well as explosives supply in certain regions were somewhat restricted, with the reduction in concentrates mainly concentrated in parts of Hebei and Liaoning. Looking ahead to next week, as the major meetings conclude, mining and beneficiation operations previously affected are expected to gradually resume normal production. Coupled with rising temperatures, some northern mining and beneficiation operations are also expected to restart. Overall, iron ore concentrates production is expected to see a slight increase.