Baoshan Iron & Steel Co <600019.SS> (Baosteel), China's biggest listed steelmaker, said it has suspended production at a loss-making plant in Shanghai, in a sign of the intense pressure on the sector as steel prices trade near three-year lows.

The steelmaker is one of the first major Chinese mills to publicly announce it is suspending production, but with the world's second-biggest economy cooling and banks restricting lending to an industry that built up $400 billion of debt during years of double-digit growth more suspensions are likely.