China Henan shuts up to 240,000 T lead capacity
by Reuters News on 24 August 2009, 11:06 AM
communities.thomsonreuters.com
* China's Henan province shuts up to 240,000 T lead capacity
* More lead capacity will be shut, smelter officials say
* Shaanxi Nonferrous 60,000-tonne smelter closes for repairs
By Polly Yam
HONG KONG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - China has shut as much as 240,000 tonne of annual lead smelting capacity in its top producing province of Henan after reports of lead poisoning in a neighbouring province, smelter officials said on Monday.
The closed capacity, which smelter officials said could be phased out permanently, is nearly 6 percent of operating refined lead capacity in China, the world's top producer of the metal.
Pollution from the lead industry has gained prominence after reports in state media last week of lead poisoning in children living near smelters.
"Three plants were shut on Sunday, with a monthly output of 15,000-20,000 tonnes," a senior executive at a large lead smelter in Henan told Reuters. He added the closed capacity was in Jiyuan city.
Lead on the London Metal Exchange, which was up around 1.7 percent at 0600 GMT, extended its rise to 7 percent to touch its highest since late September 2008.
"Clearly this is supportive, though the effect is greater than it would have been had it not been for the effervescence across markets." said Stephen Briggs, analyst at RBS in London.
"It will depend on how long these closures last -- but you can't clean up a lead smelter overnight. If they force all smelters that don't meet standards to shut across China it could be a very big story indeed."
A sales manager at a medium-size lead smelter in Henan said the provincial government had asked lead smelters to shut down capacity that did not meet national environmental standards, which he said was about half the 1 million tonnes capacity.
"About a third of the province's lead smelting capacity could be closed eventually," he said.
Henan produced a third of China's refined lead at 600,996 tonnes in the first half, up 9.13 percent, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
China's fourth-biggest zinc producer, Dongling Group, is maintaining full production at two zinc lines with combined annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes in Shaanxi province, after shutting a 100,000-tonne lead and zinc plant blamed by locals for being a source of lead poisoning.
In Shaanxi, a lead smelter with 50,000-60,000 tonnes of annual capacity located in Feng county and controlled by state-owned Shaanxi Nonferrous Metals had closed for repairs, sources said.
It is unclear whether the repairs were planned or a precaution after the Dongling incident.
Another Shaanxi Nonferrous subsidiary, Hanzhong Zinc Industry, was running its 70,000 tonnes of lead smelting capacity normally, a smelter official said.
"We don't have an issue about closing for checks," he added.
He said Hanzhong would start up a 100,000-tonne-a-year zinc smelting facility next month to boost its total capacity to 220,000 tonnes.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart) |
