The operating rate of BFs was down 0.15 percentage points WoW at 91.38% as of October 18, SMM survey showed. Given highly volatile market, steel mills may sustain more losses. In addition, there will be a question mark over environmental protection-related production restrictions. Therefore, actual operating rate of BFs this week may fall short of expectations.
According to SMM research, operating rates across 34 EAF steel mills that produced construction steel in China stood at 38.79% as of October 17, up 3.32 percentage points WoW. Regional production cuts and restrictions will be gradually implemented, given that most steel mills lowered operating rate to the lowest level. If there is no big profit uptick in a short term, the operating rate of EAFs is expected to remain low.
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