Factories shut for blue sky for Beijing Olympics

With less than a month to go to the Olympics, Beijing and neighboring provinces have asked polluting industries to shut or reduce production to clean the air for athletes, and to help offset a looming power shortage.

Polluters have been asked to shut or reduce production for two months beginning July 20.

Rising power and other costs, combined with weaker-than-expected metals demand, have led some aluminium and small zinc smelters to announce voluntary output cuts of up to 10 percent from their expected production.

Below is a list of shutdowns due to take effect from July 20 unless otherwise stated:

BEIJING:

Shougang Steel Group, long Beijing's worst polluter, is relocating most operations to neighboring Hebei Province. It will reduce steel output at its Beijing plant in the third quarter to 560,000 tonnes, down 50 percent from a year earlier.

All cement producers in Beijing will be shut, as well as more than 200 quarries and lime producers.

Beijing Eastern Chemical Works will shut down.

Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Group, four coal-fired power plants and 18 other heavy polluters will cut production to reduce emissions by 30 percent.

HEBEI:

The province has shut down plants that could not meet environment protection requirements ahead of the Games. As of July 7, the following annual capacity was shut:

Coke: 350,000 tonnes

Iron: 7.11 million tonnes

Steel: 5.58 million tonnes

Cement: 9.67 million tonnes

Small power generators: 745,000 kwh

Baoding Taihang Xingsheng Cement Co, a unit of Hebei Taihang Cement Co (600533.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), suspended production from July 25.

INNER MONGOLIA:

More than 80 coal storage and sales institutes near Baita Airport in Hohhot, the provincial capital, have been closed. A further 100 have been ordered to improve.

Coal-fired power plants must use low-sulphur coal to reduce emissions. If air quality cannot meet standards, key polluters will be ordered to shut.

TIANJIN

Two steel mills, one fertiliser company, one cement maker and a ferro-manganese smelter will close from July 25 to Sept. 20.

Two cement companies and a chemical plant will reduce production.

SHANXI:

Small coking plants have been ordered to shut.

Many small coal mines have been shut since mid-June, in the wake of a mine blast, and are likely to remain shut for the rest of the summer.

SHANDONG:

Shengli power plant, textile-to-aluminium conglomerate Weiqiao Pioneering Group, and 130 other companies that failed to meet emission standards in April would be asked to shut down during the Olympics if they are not able to improve.

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