SHANGHAI, Jan 12 (SMM) - Since the beginning of 2023, many blast furnaces that were shut down for maintenance have resumed operation or plan to. According to SMM research, it is estimated that 18 blast furnaces will resume production in January 2023, contributing to an increase of 79,200 mt in daily pig iron output. At the same time, 12 blast furnaces have been under maintenance, affecting the daily pig iron output by around 42,800 mt. In total, about 1.16 million mt of pig iron output will be affected in January, down 6% or 570,000 mt compared with the previous month.

Up to now, the number of blast furnaces planned to resume production far exceeds the number of those scheduled for overhauls. If the arrangements are carried out as planned, the output of pig iron in January will increase slightly. However, the steel mills have been suffering losses while the steel demand has dropped sharply with the approaching CNY holiday. As such, some steel mills may defer their production resumption plans. SMM will continue to track the latest development of blast furnace maintenance and production resumption.