[SMM blast furnace operating rate] Annual maintenance continues, pig iron production continues to decline

According to the SMM survey, as of June 4, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.26%, down 0.09 percentage point MoM. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 89.56%, down 0.18 percentage point MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4163 million mt, down 5,000 mt MoM.

During this period, 2 blast furnaces underwent maintenance, while 2 resumed production. The blast furnaces undergoing maintenance were mainly concentrated in the Shaanxi region, while those resuming production were mainly concentrated in the Guizhou and Shanxi regions. Currently, some steel mills' blast furnaces are still undergoing regular maintenance as planned, and pig iron production is showing a downward trend. Looking ahead to next week, no blast furnaces are scheduled for maintenance, while 1 blast furnace is expected to resume production, mainly concentrated in the Hubei region. Currently, the maintenance of blast furnaces at steel mills is not active. If steel prices continue to decline in the later period, it is expected that the number of blast furnaces undergoing maintenance will increase, and pig iron production from blast furnaces at steel mills may continue to decline.