SHANGHAI, Sep 17 (SMM) — Operating rates of blast furnace (BF) at Chinese steelmakers fell for the fourth consecutive week as production restrictions in Tangshan and lower profits prompted steel mills to conduct maintenance.

An SMM survey showed that BF operating rates across steel mills dipped 0.3 percentage point from the previous week to 88.3% in the third week of September.

Operating rates of blast furnace at Chinese steelmakers

A slew of economic data were released this week. The increase in real estate investment was moderate, but newly-started floor space shrank 3.6% on the month and land purchases for housing declined 2.4% year on year, and these, combined with tightened policies in many places cast a shadow on future steel demand from the real estate sector, which led to sharp falls in steel futures.

However, demand from the automobile sector will provide support to steel prices. Data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed that the daily average sale of passenger vehicles stood at 43,000 units in the second week of September, up 6% on the month and 39% on the year.

A steelmaker in north China shut down four blast furnaces and no resumption plan has been heard so far, while another steel mill in south China recovered from maintenance even though it was bearish on steel prices in late September, according to the SMM survey.