Considering facing deficits, some of China's steelmakers would postpone the operation of their new blast furnaces from the first half year to the second half year.

It was estimated that 19 blast furnaces with 3.4 million tons of production would be arranged to start operation in the first half year. On the contrary, there were 37 blast furnaces with 31.49 million tons of output being disused at the same time.

In the second half of 2022, 12 blast furnaces with a production of 24.7 million tons were scheduled to be put into operation. However, schedules might be delayed to start.