Following a meeting held to discuss prevention of air pollution, the municipal government of Tangshan in China’s Hebei Province has announced that during the winter season (November 2017-March 2018) blast furnaces in Tangshan and surrounding regions will cut their production by 50 percent, while output of coking plants will be reduced by 30 percent. The news has created positive expectations among market participants for the steel price trend. The Tangshan area, which is a major hub for steel production in China, has an approximate annual crude steel output of 120 million mt.