Things are looking a bit more positive for Hebei Steel. “Crude steel output from China’s top steelmaking province of Hebei rose 7.4 percent in December from the previous month, but the figure was 5.2 percent lower than 2012 as Beijing’s anti-pollution drive starts to bite,” reports Reuters.

"According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Hebei produced 12.3 million tonnes of crude steel in the final month of 2013, amounting to 19.7 percent of the national total, up from 18.8 percent in November, but down from 25.2 percent for the whole of the previous year.”

"The province traditionally produces around a quarter of China’s total steel output, but its share tailed off significantly in the last two months of 2013, largely as a result of a government campaign to tackle sources of air pollution in northern China.”