A record heatwave forced power rationing across southwest China in August 2022, shutting steel mills in Sichuan and neighbouring provinces. The heatwave was the longest since records began in 1961, with 262 weather stations recording temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or more. Sichuan, which relies on hydropower, ordered industrial users to stop production from 15 August, and the rationing was later extended to 25 August. All 11 electric arc furnace steel mills in the province stopped, and by 17 August about 20 mills across Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Chongqing had suspended production. Output was expected to fall by about 57,000 tonnes a day, though the actual loss was put nearer 13,000 tonnes a day because many mills were already running at low rates. Around 210,000 tonnes of output were affected over about a week. The episode showed how vulnerable steel production had become to extreme weather and to power grids stretched by air conditioning demand.
Source: SMM — https://news.metal.com/newscontent/101921717-due-to-power-rationing-steel-mills-in-south-west-regions-suspended-the-production
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (freely licensed).