WEEKLY: China's HRC output, prices edge lower

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel dipped for a second week during October 9-15, retreating by a tiny 0.45% to 3.22 million tonnes, the results of Mysteel’s latest survey showed.

The lower output partly reflected the pressure felt by steelmakers and rolling mills from loose supply and tepid downstream demand. As a result, the HRC rolling capacity utilization rate among the 37 sampled mills during the sample week slid by 0.37 percentage points on week to sit at 82.22%, while the operational rate declined by