SMM Survey: Blast Furnaces Gradually Resume Production, Pig Iron Production Continues to Rise

According to the SMM survey, as of January 22, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 85.60%, up 0.46 percentage points WoW. The blast furnace capacity utilisation rate was 87.85%, up 0.87 percentage points WoW. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.3641 million mt, up 15,300 mt WoW.

This week, one blast furnace underwent maintenance, while two blast furnaces resumed production. The maintenance activities were primarily conducted in Shanxi, whereas the blast furnaces resuming production were concentrated in Shanxi and Hunan regions. Some blast furnaces under maintenance returned to normal production this week, resulting in a noticeable increase in pig iron production. Looking ahead to next week, one blast furnace is expected to undergo maintenance, and three blast furnaces are planned to resume production. The maintenance activities will be concentrated in Shandong and Hubei, and pig iron production is expected to continue increasing. However, due to significant profit pressure faced by steel mills recently, some steel mills may gradually formulate new maintenance plans, which could lead to overall pig iron production growth falling short of expectations.