WEEKLY: China's HRC output at 3.5-mth high

Production of hot-rolled coil (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steelmakers tracked by Mysteel hit a 3.5-month high of 3.18 million tonnes over August 17-23 following three straight weeks of gains, or up 1.1% or 33,400 tonnes on week, the latest survey found. Survey respondents noted that mills in Northwest and East China posted significant on-week rises in their HRC output.

Over the survey period, the hot-rolling capacity utilization rate among these sampled mills increased for a third week, rising by 0.85 percentage point on week to 81.24%, also refreshing a 3.5-month high, according to Mysteel's data. "HRC output continues to maintain a high level, and coil inventories have also been