SHANGHAI, May 21 (SMM) – Iron ore miners in Xingtai, north China’s Hebei province, have again halted operations following they restarted work in early May, as the local government tightened up controls on explosives-related companies to guarantee safety and air quality during the convening of China's “two sessions”. 

The closure is estimated to impact domestic iron ore production by 20,000-30,000 mt/day. 

SMM learned that the production of raw iron ore in Xingtai stood at 1.7 million mt in 2019, down 13.6% on the year, with output of iron ore concentrate less than 1 million mt.  

Explosives-related iron ore mining companies such as Jindi Lianban, Xigequan, Zhongguan, Henghui and Taihang were in this round of safety inspections. 

China’s political two sessions, which was delayed this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, will be held on May 21-22 to showcase the country’s return to normalcy following the pandemic.