Pig iron production remains at a high level, but may decline in the future

According to the SMM survey, as of May 14, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.63%, down 0.33 percentage point WoW. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 90.45%, down 0.65 percentage point WoW. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4403 million mt, down 17,600 mt WoW.

According to data from SMM, the expected operating rate of copper pipe & tube enterprises in May 2025 is 80.07%, down 3.65 percentage points MoM and 3.25 percentage points YoY.

According to the SMM survey, as of April 30, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.89%, up 0.31 percentage point WoW.

In February, the operating rate of copper pipe & tube producers was 70.28%.The operating rate of copper pipe & tube enterprises in March 2025 is expected to be 82.33%.

According to SMM survey of 50 EF steel mills that mainly produce construction steel, their operating rates was 40.94%, down 1.26 percentage points WoW, as of March 19.

Operating rate of BFs was 89.45% on March 20, up 0.3 percentage points WoW, SMM survey showed.

In January 2024, China's magnesium alloy monthly operating rate was 45.81%, an increase of 3.01% month-on-month and a year-on-year decrease of 1.76%

Sichuan Yahua Group revealed the progress of Zimbabwe's Kamativi lithium mine.

SMM Data：Weekly operating rate of domestic copper rod enterprises