Capacity Utilisation Rate of Iron Ore Mines in Xinjiang Rebounded in Feb, to Rise Further in Mar

SHANGHAI, Mar 8 (SMM) – In February, the capacity utilisation rate of mines in Xinjiang rebounded month-on-month, mainly due to the resumption of production at two large state-owned mines in Hejing county. As the weather gets warmer after Chinese New Year holidays, mines and steel mills began to resume production.

However, some small mines in the Altay region have not resumed the production after the shutdown last winter.

A local mine said that due to tightening mine safety inspections in the wake of an accident at a gold mine in Xinjiang last year, it will not be able to resume production until June, which is 1-1.5 months later than in previous years.

Another mine in Fuyun county said that the supply of concentrates will be reduced this year due to the mining method changing from open-pit to underground this year and, to secure stable supply, it will only sell to large state-owned steel mills, rather than small and medium-sized steel mills.

Some mines in Kumul said that safety inspections have continued to affect production, and it will not reach full production capacity any time soon.

No mine in Turpan has resumed production since the closure last year, and there was no change in the capacity utilisation rate from the previous month.

Two large state-owned mines in Hejing county, Bayingol Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture halted production due to the low temperatures and low mining and dressing efficiency at its open-pit mine. SMM learned that the two had resumed production in February, and the demand from surrounding steel mills was robust, boosting the production enthusiasm.

Since the blast furnaces of the steel mills in Xinjiang have completed maintenance before resuming production, the local price of concentrates has also begun to rise.

A combination of profits at mines and rising prices of imported ore is likely to drive capacity utilisation rate of mines in Xinjiang higher in March.