June 11, 2018
SHANGHAI, Jun 8 (SMM) – The operating rate across China's galvanising plants in May gained 0.46 percentage points from April and stood at 86.6%, SMM found in a survey. This is up 8.7 percentage points from last year.
The operating rate surged from last year as large galvanising plants already fitted with environmentally friendly facilities after rectification. Plants were mostly suspended in April-May last year on environmental concerns.
SMM expects the operating rate to stand at 82.1% in June, down 4.53 percentage points from April and down 4.31 percentage points from last year, due to nationwide environmental reviews and a slowdown in downstream demand.