WEEKLY: China's HRC output declines, prices edge up further

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel fell by a marked 65,400 tonnes on week to 2.97 million tonnes during July 9-15, as more mills increased maintenance work amid widening margin losses, the results of Mysteel's latest survey showed.

The average capacity utilization rate for strip mills among the surveyed 37 makers eased by 1.68 percentage points on week to 75.99% during the survey week, while their operation rate also decreased 1.56 percentage points to 79.69%, according to the survey findings. More integrated mills in China had curbed or halted their production for maintenance during the survey