FOCUS: China steel output to stay high in March despite production cut policy

Chinese market participants expect steel output to stay high in March amid a profit recovery, even after the government ordered mills in Tangshan to cut production for environmental protection, Fastmarkets heard.

On March 11, Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment, visited four mills in Tangshan - the steelmaking hub in northern China - and found all of them had been running at high operating rates despite the city initiating emergency industrial production cuts to reduce pollution, the ministry said.
The government arrested Liu Haichun, chairman of Hegang Tanggang Stainless Steel, for 15 days as punishment of operating amid the production cut policy, several domestic media outlets reported.
After that, sources told Fastmarkets that blast furnace (BF) running capacity in Tangshan was at 50-60% in mid-March, compared to an average level of 80-90% in common days.
Will such a policy lead to drops in China's overall steel supply? Most market participants do not expect so.
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