The government of the steelmaking hub of Tangshan city in Hebei province ordered industrial activity to be wound back to improve air quality during key national government meetings in Beijing that began March 4. This includes the temporary closure of seven blast furnaces in the city in March.
However, S&P Global Platts Analytics does not expect the output reduction to have any material impact on overall production levels, as it will affect less than 4 million mt of capacity. Platts Analytics also forecasts China's overall pig iron capacity will increase about 11 million mt/year, or 30,000 mt/day, in the first half of 2021, due to the commissioning of new blast furnaces.
