Environmental review to affect secondary lead output in Hebei, Henan

SHANGHAI, Jun 5 (SMM) – An estimated 2,500 mt/day of secondary lead output will be affected in the following month as environmental checks on acid-related companies in Hebei and Henan province intensify, SMM learned. Supply of secondary lead will remain tight in the near term as environmental supervision is likely to extend to other provinces, SMM expects. 

This followed after inspection teams from the central government settled in Hebei on May 31 and in Henan on June 1 to review previous rectification works. The inspection teams will be stationed for one month. SMM expects this move to affect secondary lead output by 1,500 mt/day in Hebei, and 1,000 mt/day in Henan. 

In Hebei, small, unqualified secondary lead smelters are currently fully suspended for rectification, and large smelters face production cuts. This will reduce the region’s total output of secondary lead by at least 30%, a local licensed producer told SMM. 

The province was required to complete the investigation and rectification work on substandard acid-related plants by Dec 31 this year. 

As of Monday June 4, all small and unlicensed producers of secondary lead in Henan province were suspended, while qualified, large companies operated normally. 

Separately, secondary lead smelters in Jiangxi province were fully suspended as of June 4 as local environmental probes continued. In Anhui province, secondary lead output will increase by 300 mt/day from this week as a local smelter resumed operation after inspection, SMM learned. 

China produced over 2 million mt of secondary lead in 2017, SMM data showed. 

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