Average Operating Rate of Blast Furnaces Rose 0.59 Percentage Point From A Week Ago To 94.05% As Of March 29

SHANGHAI, Apr 4 (SMM) - The average operating rate of blast furnaces rose 0.59 percentage point from a week ago to 94.5% as of March 29, SMM survey showed. The average capacity utilisation rate stood at 95.02%, up 0.79 percentage point from a week ago. The daily average pig iron production of sample steel mills was 2.27 million mt, up 18,800 mt from a week ago.

As of March 28, the operating rate of 34 EAF-based steel mills averaged 59.50%, a decrease of 0.82 percentage point from the previous week. The capacity utilisation rate dipped 0.86 percentage point week-on-week to 62.17%. Daily rebar output decreased 1,500 mt on the week to 110,700 mt last week. During the survey period, the prices of finished steel rose after falling and the prices of steel scrap followed suit. As the profits of steel mills continued to weaken, some steel mills lowered their operating rates by 0.86 percentage point to 59.5%. In the follow-up stage, although the production of steel mills is restrained by the fluctuating finished steel prices and the weakening profits of steel mills, the low in-plant inventory and rebounding steel scrap prices will keep the operating rates of domestic EAF-based steel mills at around 55-63% this week.