Demand and loss-induced maintenance likely to cap China’s pig iron output growth next week

The blast furnace operating rate of steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.11% this week, a decrease of 0.59% from last week. The average daily hot metal production of sample steel plants was 2.1247 million mt.
Some BFs will resume production after maintenance, boosting pig iron output. Yet, in view of poor demand and expanding losses, some BFs may be put under maintenance, thereby causing output growth to undershoot expectations.