Tangshan issued air pollution control plan for April

SHANGHAI, Mar 31 (SMM) – China’s top steelmaking hub, Tangshan in Hebei province, has issued its air pollution control plan for April, continuing to exempt steelmakers that are graded as A and B on their environmental status, from production restrictions.

The curbs on grade-C steel mills will vary. Ganglu, Jinxi’s eastern and western plants, Wenfeng, Tanggang Medium & Heavy Plate, Delong are required to cut capacity of their sintering and pelletising machines and blast furnaces by at least 20%, while the cut is expanded to at least 30% for Donghai, Donghai Special, Jiujiang Wire, Xinda, Yanshan, Rongxin, Songting and Zhayi, and to at least 50% for Tangyin, Chunxing, Tanggang Stainless, Guoyi, Jinma, Donghua, Kaiheng, Ruifeng and Jing’an.

Tanggang is ordered to halve capacity of the 360 m2 sintering machine in its southern plant, and to suspend all blast furnaces and two sintering machines but a 3,200 m3 blast furnace and two sintering machines in its northern plant.

The plan will not impose production curbs on steelmakers in Tangshan including Tianzhu, Xinbaotai, Huaxi, Rongcheng and Jianlong, either.

In March, grade-C mills that helped supply heat were required to cut capacity of their sintering and pelletising machines, lime kilns and blast furnaces by at least 50% in the second half of the month, while this curb, of the same degree, was required of other grade-C mills for the full month.

SMM learned that steel mills in Tangshan did not comply with the curbs, however.