Tangshan partially exempts steel mills from winter cuts 

SHANGHAI, Nov 6 (SMM) – Steel mills in Tangshan of Hebei province will face eased cutbacks of around 18.59 million mt of blast furnace capacity in the 2018/2019 winter, compared with original cuts of 19.74 million mt, as the government exempted some mills from cuts. 

Cuts this year account for some 31.55% of overall capacity, down from 33.8% in the previous order a month ago. 

Hebei Jinxi Iron & Steel and Tangshan Ganglu Iron & Steel received exemptions of 1.05 million mt and 650,000 mt, respectively. For mills that planned to move out of 'environmentally-sensitive' areas, cuts were lowered by 15% from their previous-scheduled levels, SMM learned. 

An environmentally-sensitive area is an agricultural area that requires special protection because of its landscape, wildlife or historical value.