Shougang produced more than 13,000 tons of pig iron from its 5,500-cubic meter No 1 BF (the world’s fifth largest blast furnace by inner volume) at Caofeidian-based Jingtang Iron and Steel, surpassing the world record level on a daily basis. The BF’s utilization ratio topped 2.3 percent, higher than the average of 2.2 percent in the developed world.