Wu’an to step up smog control efforts in Jul

SHANGHAI, Jul 2 (SMM) – Wu'an, a major steelmaking city in Hebei province, ordered 14 steelmakers across the region to suspend a certain number of sintering machines and blast furnaces in July, in a bid to improve air quality, according to the official notice issued on June 30.

The move came after the top steelmaking hub of Tangshan deepened its production curbs from late June.

A total of 15 sintering machines and 14 blast furnaces in Wu’an will shut in July, which is expected to impact sinter output by 2.2 million mt, pig iron output by 809,100 mt and iron ore demand by 1.39 million mt.

Blast furnaces in Wu’an have the capacity to produce 95,200 mt of molten iron per day, and their output posted a daily average of 82,200 mt in June, with an operating rate of 84.55%.

Output of molten iron across Wu’an is expected to average 69,100 mt per day in July, down 13,100 mt from June. This is estimated to affect demand for iron ore by 22,600 mt per day.