FOCUS: China's power supply constraints subdue demand for flat steel

Demand for steel, especially for flat products, in China could be hit by power supply constraints caused by the drive to reduce energy consumption and sustained coal shortages.

Concerns among steel market participants have increased after reports by a major local information provider suggesting that some pipe mills in Hebei province's Tangshan and Tianjin have been required to suspend operations for five hours and 11 hours respectively daily from September 22 due to tight electricity supply.
No end date for the power restrictions has been set. Pipe mills are a huge big consumer of electricity; most of the mills in the two northern cities lack captive power plants, a Shanghai-based analyst said.
The restrictions in Tangshan and Tianjin came after South China's Guangdong provincial government late last week asked pipe mills in the region suspend operations during peak hours for electricity consumption.

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