Daily iron ore consumption in Tangshan may fall sharply due to stringent production restrictions

SHANGHAI, Mar 10 (SMM)—The Department of Atmospheric Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Letter on Conducting Investigation on the Response to Heavy Air Pollution in Tangshan to the Tangshan government on March 8, stating that it would lead a team to Tangshan during March 9-11. The Tangshan government held an emergency meeting on environmental protection on the evening of March 8, requiring industrial enterprises to restrict production in accordance with the first-level red warning response during this period. 

Enterprises have been required to reduce emissions in accordance with their performance ratings during the red warning period. Grade D enterprises should suspend blast furnace and road transportation, an SMM survey showed. There are 9 Grade D enterprises in Tangshan in 2021, involving 28 blast furnaces, three of which have been suspended for maintenance. If all Grade D enterprises shut down their blast furnaces, molten iron output will decline by 55,500 mt per day. 

In response to the Tangshan City's March Air Pollution Comprehensive Management Plan, seven 450m³ blast furnaces and a 630m³ blast furnace at Xinbaotai Iron and Steel Company have all been shut down, and the molten iron output is estimated to shrink by 9,500 mt per day. Besides, some local steel makers have already shut down some blast furnaces for maintenance as of March 9, which lowered molten iron output by 26,300 mt per day. Under the influence of a series of production restriction policies, Tangshan's single-day molten iron production totalled approximately 91,300 mt. Based on this calculation, daily iron ore consumption will be reduced by 155,200 mt per day.