Tangshan in China’s Hebei province, a major steelmaking area in the country, is planning to ease restrictions on local steelmakers’ production during almost whole September with a tightening of restrictions expected only starting from September 28, according to a draft plan for smog control in the coming month which was circulated in the steel market on August 26.
The production restrictions on Tangshan mills will be implemented on different scales in two stages, in the September 1-27 and September 28-October 4 periods this year.
In the first period, September 1-27, 16 steel mills, including grade-A steel mill Shougang Qian’an and coastal mills will likely be required to cut sintering and pelletizing capacity by 20 percent, the same restriction that was announced for August.
A cut of 30 percent will be required of sintering and pelletizing machines at other mills, 17 of which will be ordered to lower capacity of their blast furnaces and lime kilns by 30 percent. This order will be slightly less strict than in August, when grade-A steel mills and other producers in the southern and northern parts of Tangshan reduced their sintering capacity by 40 percent, while the remaining producers faced cuts of 50 percent.
Casting and independent rolling (including cold rolling) enterprises within the second ring road and located outside industrial parks will halt production in the September 1-27 period.
In the second stage, from September 28 to October 4, the restrictions on sintering and pelletizing machines and lime kilns will be increased to 50 percent.
