As of February 29, the operating rate of steel rolling mills that rely on external steel billets was 14.29%, up 8.57 percentage points MoM, but down 34.71 percentage points YoY.

During the Spring Festival, steel rolling mills that rely on external steel billets were all suspended for the holidays; after the Lantern Festival, the steel rolling mills resumed work. However, due to national construction steel price downturn, manufactures were more cautious, resulting in slower production resumption. Some rolling machine at steel mills are still undergoing technical transformation, and are expected to resume production in mid-March. The operating rate will continue to recover, but may not be as high as the same period last year.