en.Wedoany.com Reported - Over the past week (May 22-28), production at China's blast furnace (BF) steel mills continued to rise, though the pace of growth slowed.

A survey by Mysteel of 247 BF steelmakers showed that the average capacity utilization rate among them edged up for the third consecutive week, increasing by 0.1 percentage point from the prior week to 90.4%. Total molten iron output also rose marginally by 0.1% week on week to 2.4 million tonnes/day. Meanwhile, the average operating rate among these mills remained unchanged from the previous week at 84.1%.

Some mills that had completed maintenance and resumed production the previous week further lifted output during the current survey period. In line with the increase in molten iron output, total consumption of imported iron ore edged up 0.1% from the prior week to 2.96 million tonnes/day.

As of May 28, total imported iron ore inventories held by the 247 mills in all forms (including stocks at mills, in transit, and at ports) had increased by 0.1% from the previous week to 88.4 million tonnes. At current usage rates, these stocks could satisfy 29.8 days of demand for these mills, unchanged from the prior week.

However, the growth in steel output may be difficult to sustain in the coming weeks. Narrowing profit margins and the approaching summer off-season for steel consumption in China are expected to dampen mills' production enthusiasm. As of May 28, about 62% of the 247 BF steelmakers monitored by Mysteel were profitable when selling their products, down 1 percentage point from the previous week.

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