China's January-August pig iron production increased by 3.7% y-o-y

The increase in pig iron production was also larger than the 2.6 per cent y-o-y increase in the country's crude steel production.

In August alone, China produced 74.62 million tonnes of pig iron, up 4.8% from August last year, data showed. However, production on a daily basis averaged 2.4 million tonnes per day last month, down 4% from the previous month.

Pig iron production was down overall from July as some blast furnace (BF) steel mills in North China produced below full capacity as they restarted idled furnaces in early August.

Authorities in the northern Chinese city of Tangshan ordered local steel mills to cut production in July to prevent deterioration of the city's air quality, and the restrictions were reportedly not lifted until the end of the month.

Meanwhile, narrowing margins also made mills more cautious about resuming production.