[SMM Blast Furnace Operating Rate] Steel mills' production willingness declines, hot metal production continues to fall

According to the SMM survey, as of September 30, the operating rate of blast furnaces at the 242 steel mills tracked by SMM stood at 88.57%, down 0.19 percentage points MoM. The blast furnace capacity utilization rate was 88.15%, down 0.18 percentage points MoM. The daily average hot metal production of the sampled steel mills was 2.3882 million mt, down 6,100 mt MoM.

The SMM survey this week showed that two blast furnaces underwent maintenance, located in Hebei and Liaoning respectively, while another two blast furnaces resumed production. Recently, hot metal production of steel mill blast furnaces has continued its downward trend. Looking ahead to next week, according to SMM tracking, affected by steel mill losses, some steel mills indicated they plan to formulate maintenance plans in early October, and overall hot metal production may see a more notable decline.