【Steel Industry】April Shutdowns and Production Status

Ⅰ. April Shutdowns in Steel Plants:

According to incomplete statistics, as of April 12th, 12 Chinese domestic steel plants have announced maintenance shutdowns. Among them: Jiangsu Yonggang plans to undergo maintenance on its bar rebar line starting April 17th, with an expected duration of one month, affecting production by about 110,000 tons. 

Ⅱ. This Week's (Up to April 12th) Blast Furnace and Electric Arc Furnace Production:

As of April 12th, a survey of 247 steel plants showed a blast furnace operating rate of 78.41%, an increase of 0.60 percentage points compared to the previous week, but a decrease of 6.33 percentage points year-on-year. The blast furnace ironmaking capacity utilization rate was 84.05%, an increase of 0.44 percentage points compared to the previous week, but a decrease of 7.75 percentage points year-on-year.

As of April 11th, the average cost for 40 independent EAF construction steel plants was 3,734 RMB/ton, an increase of 3 RMB/ton from the previous day. Graphite electrodes are widely used in electric arc furnace steelmaking. Specifications are available for reference. The average profit loss was 135 RMB/ton, with the bottoming profit loss at 31 RMB/ton, which remained unchanged compared to the previous day. Among 87 independent EAF steel plants in China, the average capacity utilization rate was 50.55%, a decrease of 1.53 percentage points compared to the previous week, and a decrease of 13.40 percentage points year-on-year. For future production trends in the steel industry, follow us for more information.