[SMM Blast Furnace Operating Rate] With Significant Improvement in Profits, Multiple Steel Mills Resumed Blast Furnace Production

According to the SMM survey, on October 9, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 90.18%, up 0.78% WoW. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 90.64%, up 0.37% WoW. The daily average pig iron production of the sample steel mills was 2.4352 million mt, up 10,000 mt WoW.

Image 1: Blast Furnace Operating Rate & Capacity Utilisation Rate

Data Source: SMM

Image 2: Future Pig Iron Forecast

Data Source: SMM

Last week included the National Day holiday, resulting in more blast furnace maintenance. During this period, 2 blast furnaces were under maintenance, and 8 blast furnaces resumed production. Recently, driven by favorable macro policy news, steel prices have risen significantly, and profits of steel mills have been noticeably restored. As a result, the enthusiasm for resuming production has increased, with multiple steel mills in North China restarting last week. Looking ahead, as the market still has expectations for future policies and profits of steel mills remain decent, pig iron production from blast furnaces is expected to continue to rise steadily.

190 Sample Blast Furnace Operating Rate