China's September Daily Steel Production - Lowest Since December 2018

China's daily crude steel production fell to its lowest level since December 2018 in September as power outages across much of the country and environmental restrictions slowed down operations.

The world's largest steel producer produced 73.75 million tonnes of metal last month, up from 83.24 million tonnes in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. This is 21.2% less than in the same month a year earlier.

According to Reuters calculations, the average daily crude steel production in China in September was 2.46 million tons, down 8.6% from the average production in August.

China produced 805.89 million tonnes of steel in the first nine months of the year, up 2% year on year, according to the data.

Industrial production in the world's second largest economy has recently declined due to electricity rationing caused by a shortage of coal, affecting sectors such as steel and aluminum.

According to Mysteel, the capacity utilization rate of 71 electric arc furnaces in China has dropped to 49.22% since the end of August in the last week of September, down 21.09% from the same period a year earlier.

Long steel mills have also been constrained by Beijing's efforts to reduce smog and carbon emissions, as well as the announcement that production in 2021 cannot exceed last year's record of 1.065 billion tonnes.

Last week, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of the Environment issued a joint statement urging more businesses in northern China to adhere to these cuts from November 15 to the end of 2021.

In addition, from January 1, 2022 to March 15, mills must cut production by at least 30% of their production in 2021 in order to reduce air pollution.