WEEKLY: Chinese HRC output dips again as mills' losses expand

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers surveyed by Mysteel edged down by 45,300 tonnes or 1.5% on week during September 3-9 to total 2.91 million tonnes, Mysteel's latest survey showed. Another mill in North China's Hebei idled a strip mill for an overhaul during the survey week, Mysteel Global learned.

As a result, the average capacity utilization rate for strip mills among the surveyed 37 steelmakers decreased by 1.16 percentage points on week to sit at 74.23% during the survey period, while the average operation rate of these surveyed mills stayed unchanged on week at 79.69%. Mills were suffering heavy losses, as rising coking coal