Tangshan to ease steel production curbs in Jun

SHANGHAI, Jun 4 (SMM) – Tangshan city, China’s top steelmaking hub in Hebei province, appeared to let up production curbs over steelmakers in June, which is likely to keep supplies high and weigh on prices.

Steels mills, which were set to relocate to rural areas, were exempted in the city's Tangshan June work plan on air pollution control and treatment released on Friday May 31.

The plan retained output curbs on steel mills in the Tangshan districts of Lunan, Lubei, Kaiping, Guye, Fengnan, Qian’an, Luanzhou, Luannan, Laoting, Caofeidian and harbour development zone. Sintering and pelletising stages and lime kilns will continue to face capacity cuts by 50%. 

Cutbacks on blast furnaces and converters will remain unchanged from levels seen in winter heating season, and category-A mills are exempted from the cuts.

Most mills surveyed by SMM felt that the new work plan would have limited impact on their current operations. A category B mill in Qian’an district even planned to resume a 1,080- m³ blast furnace, and expects its output of long steel to increase by 50,000 mt in June.