With prices up nearly 70% since last November, China’s steel producers are thriving yet again. Profit margins at their highest since 2009 have led many of China’s steel mills to reopen, and its possible that the country’s average daily output may have actually surpassed the record set in June 2014, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analysts. This record production appears to contradict recent orders from Beijing to cut overcapacity in the sector, a paradox acknowledged by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Tuesday in a notice that singled out heavy industry epicenter Hebei. With steel demand persisting, does this mean that Hebei’s transition to a sustainable economic model will have to wait?