WEEKLY: China's HRC output contracts yet prices drop further

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel shrank by 93,600 tonnes or 3.1% on week to 2.93 million tonnes during July 23-29, as widening margin losses and lackluster demand prompted more steel mills to halt production for maintenance, Mysteel Global learned.

Three mills in North China and one in Northeast China idled facilities to start maintenance work during the survey week, according to Mysteel's latest survey finding. The average capacity utilization rate for strip mills among the surveyed 37 steelmakers fell by 2.39 percentage points on week to 74.77% during the latest survey week, while the