Hebei sees decrease in April steel output

Steel production in North China's Hebei Province dipped 7.1 percent in April from a year ago despite increasing output levels nationwide, a sign that the central government's war on pollution is already eating into industrial output in the region.

Hebei, home to seven of China's 10 smoggiest cities in 2013, according to official air quality data, has been under pressure to "restructure and upgrade" its economy and reduce its dependence on polluting industries like steel and cement.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Hebei Province produced 16.18 million tons of steel in April, accounting for 23.5 percent of the national total. The province produced 17.43 million tons in March.

Over the first four months of the year, Hebei produced 66.59 million tons, 24.5 percent of the total and 4 percent lower than in the same period of 2013.

Hebei, which surrounds the capital Beijing, has been the major front in a "war on pollution" that has targeted small-scale industrial plants, including hundreds of privately owned steel mills.

The campaign has already had an impact on economic growth, with provincial GDP up just 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014, down from a 9.1 percent expansion in the same period a year ago and growth of 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Hebei aims to cut crude steel capacity by 60 million tons over the 2014-17 period, with 15 million tons to be closed this year.