[Ferro-Alloys.com] North China's Tangshan city has begun a pilot programme to cut pollution emissions from its steel industry by 40pc on the year in 2021, to improve local air quality, according to its municipal ecology and environmental bureau.

The programme will extend to cover other industries including metallurgical coke ovens, cement plants, electric power, casting and iron ore pelletising, the bureau said on its official Wechat channel.

The steel production hub produced 144mn t of crude steel in 2020, up by 5.2pc on year, with 133mn t of pig iron, up by 8.3pc on year. The emissions reduction could be met by production cuts, raw materials mix and increased use of ultra-low emissions control equipment.

The pilot programme might not affect the ratio of iron ore in mills' blends, which has seen less direct-charge use recently, but total output might be reduced, a mill iron ore buyer said.

Another Tangshan mill buyer said production and ore blends will depend on steel margins this year. If margins widen, mills will increase use of pellet and lump to reduce sintering but if margins do not improve, mills will just cut production to avoid emissions, the buyer said.

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• [Editor:kangmingfei]