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What Happens When China's Steel Curbs End? Here's BHP's Take

  • Winter restrictions to expire in staggered fashion, miner says
  • Blast furnaces expected to increase their utilization rates
A Look Inside China\'s Steel Industry

Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

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Steelmakers in China are about to get back to business full-time. When unprecedented winter supply curbs lapse in the coming weeks, BHP Billiton Ltd. forecasts mills in the top producer will step up output, boosting run rates through the second quarter to make up for curtailments.

The resumption will be gradual as provinces step back from curbs designed to fight air pollution, according to Chief Commercial Officer Arnoud Balhuizen, who presented the outlook from the world’s largest miner for commodities including iron ore and steel. At present, the restrictions are set to ease from mid-March.