Chinese steel mills began cutting output in late June 2022 as losses mounted. Daily crude steel output fell to 2.82 million tonnes in the last ten days of the month, down 4 percent from the previous ten days and the lowest since mid-April. Blast furnace utilisation slipped to 87.61 percent, while electric arc furnace utilisation fell to 35.59 percent, its eighth straight weekly fall and the lowest since mid-February. Rebar margins had been negative since 13 June, and mills switched to maintenance shutdowns rather than produce at a loss. The cuts were a response to weak demand from construction and manufacturing, which had been hit by Covid lockdowns and a property slump. Iron ore and coking coal prices fell with output, easing some of the pressure on mill margins, but traders expected the cuts to deepen before demand recovered.
Source: SEAISI — https://www.seaisi.org/details/21129?type=news-rooms
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