SHANGHAI, Aug 8 (SMM) – Some steel mills in Tangshan were required to cut operation of their sintering machines and shaft furnaces by half, from 10 am CST Wednesday August 8 to 12 am Thursday August 9, SMM learned.

The city government imposed the requirement as poor weather conditions hindered the dispersion of air pollutants. The affected areas include Lubei, Kaiping, Guye, Fengnan districts, Luan county and the Qian’an area.

The requirement is in addition to the city’s current pollution improvement effort, which required steel mills to limit operations from July 20 to August 31.