WEEKLY: Chinese steelmakers cut HRC output to support prices

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel declined by a substantial 86,000 tonnes or 2.9% on week during October 8-14 to reach a multi-year low of 2.84 million tonnes, the results of Mysteel's latest survey showed. This was also lower by a marked 11.9% on year, Mysteel Global noted.

Three mills in the northern, northeastern and southern China had halted operations for maintenance during the survey week, causing overall output to shrink significantly, the survey findings show. The average capacity utilization rate for strip mills among the 37 steelmakers decreased by 2.2 percentage points on week to 72.43% during the period, while the