According to the statistics released by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), as of August 28, a total of 46 blast furnaces in China are undergoing overhauls or are scheduled to undergo overhauls. These overhauls are expected to impact a total crude steel output of 4,678,000 mt. Meanwhile, capital repairs of blast furnaces in China in August are expected to impact 2,178,000 mt of crude steel output.
While the CISA has stated that since late July this year a number of Chinese steelmakers have implemented cuts in production, market players insist that the limited output cuts of Chinese steelmakers is not enough to have any influence on the sharp decreases in domestic steel prices.
Meanwhile, in July this year new construction starts in China indicated a decrease of 9.8 percent year on year in terms of surface area under construction. Accordingly, the weakness of the domestic construction sector has also resulted in a lack of support for domestic steel prices.