Losses of steel mills narrowed, and blast furnace operating rate increased slightly

According to SMM research, on January 24, the blast furnace operating rate was 88.40%, up by 0.29% WoW. The blast furnace capacity utilization rate was 89.44%, up by 0.33% WoW. The daily average pig iron output of steel mills in SMM’s survey sample stood at 2.14 million mt, up by 8,100 mt WoW.

During this period, 4 blast furnaces were overhauled and 8 blast furnaces resumed production. Iron ore prices fell last week, weakening the pressure on steel mills' raw material costs. Losses of some steel mills narrowed. In addition, blast furnaces gradually resumed production. The operating rate of blast furnaces and pig iron have shown a slight upward trend.

Looking forward to next week, as the Spring Festival approaches, blast furnace maintenance slowed down significantly. Blast furnaces gradually planned to resume production, and pig iron and blast furnace operating rate continued to show an upward trend. However, iron ore prices began to rebound, but steel prices didn’t recover significantly. The profits of steel mills may come under pressure again, and the operating rate of blast furnaces and the increase in pig iron may not be as expected.