State-owned companies in China have resumed production and the current resumption rate for the 96 state-owned subsidiaries is at 80pc, the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), has stated on its website.
All major iron and steel plants have fully resumed operations, SASAC has said.
Production at many plants has been closed for at least two weeks, first because of the Lunar New Year holidays, and then due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Fifteen cities in China were locked-down to contain the spread of the virus.
As per SASAC on Thursday, apart from Hubei province, industries in all other provinces have resumed work.
According to the International Rebar Produces and Exporters Association (Irepas), it is not yet possible to predict the effect the Coronavirus lockdown has had on Chinese steel production.
China’s steel production in 2019 was 996mn mt, an increase of 7.4pc from year ago.
China exported 64mn mt of steel in 2019, a drop of 5mn mt from 2018.