WEEKLY: China's HRC output ticks up marginally

After dipping slightly in the previous two weeks, hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel edged up again during October 16-22, though only higher by a tiny 0.19% to stay at 3.22 million tonnes, the results of Mysteel’s latest survey showed.

During the latest survey week, the HRC rolling capacity utilization rate among the sampled mills ticked up by 0.16 percentage point on week to stand at 82.38%, while the operational rate stayed unchanged at 79.69%, the survey results indicated. Currently, most steel mills are reluctant to make serious cuts in HRC production, as demand for this flat steel is still underpinned by a robust manufacturing industry