WEEKLY: China EAF mills rein in production as losses bite

The keenness of China's electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steelmakers for making steel cooled markedly this week as most mills saw their margins turn negative once again, the results of Mysteel's latest survey showed, while steel demand among end-users also weakened.

During November 1-7, the average capacity utilization rate among the 87 domestic EAF mills under Mysteel's regular survey snapped a nine-week rise and retreated by 2.12 percentage points on week to reach 52.23%. Over the same period, the operational rates among these makers averaged 70.09%, falling for the second straight