Steel output curbs begin clearing air over Hebei's Handan city

Medium to heavy atmospheric pollution over Handan city in North China's Hebei province, a major center for iron ore mining sintering and steelmaking, has prompted the local government to launch winter steel production controls this week, requiring local steel mills to take turns idling blast furnaces (BFs) to reduce the pollution.

Under the current plan, the city's 26 blast furnaces will be hot idled in five batches, with no fewer than five furnaces in each batch stopped for at least seven days, alongside the simultaneous maintenance of supporting facilities such as sintering and pelletizing units. The first shut-down, spanning October 25-31,