A northern Chinese industrial hub has imposed a wide-ranging ban on production at drug plants, steel mills and other businesses in a last-ditch attempt to meet this year’s pollution control goals.
The government of Shijiazhuang city said Thursday in a statement on its website that for the remaining 45 days of the year, it will curb output at thermal power plants, halt all production of industries including steel and cement, and limit manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, chemicals and even furniture. The goal is to meet this year’s target for a 10 percent reduction in the levels of PM 2.5, fine particles that pose a risk to human health, according to the statement.
Since President Xi Jinping responded to public outrage over high smog levels in 2014, local officials have had to juggle competing performance goals of pollution control and economic growth. Shijiazhuang is the capital of the northern Hebei province, which reported economic growth of 6.8 percent in the first three quarters of this year, about in line with national growth rates.
On Monday, at least three publicly listed local drugmakers halted trading of their shares after the order. North China Pharmaceutical Co. based in Shijiazhuang, which is less than 200 miles from Beijing, said in a stock exchange statement that the local government required all drugmakers in the city to halt production and not to resume manufacturing without government approval. CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. and SSY Group Ltd., also based in the city, halted trading in Hong Kong, pending announcement of production suspensions.
The city area produced about 15.2 million tons of crude steel last year, consultancy Kallanish Commodities Ltd. said in a note published Friday on its website. That’s less than 2 percent of China’s production last year, according to Bloomberg calculations. The move would in theory affect up to 1.8 million tons of steel output, Kallanish wrote, “but low production levels in the winter and mediocre demand mean the true impact should be less than this.”
Steel futures in Shanghai fell 0.5 percent for a sixth daily decline, amid weakening demand ahead of the winter season. Calls to the office of Shijiazhuang city’s environmental protection agency went unanswered.
Central heating, often powered by burning coal, usually worsens the smog in northern China during the winter months. Shijiazhuang city has experienced 28 days of heavy pollution since late September, according to another statement from the local environmental protection agency. China’s leaders declared a "war on pollution" in 2014 after blankets of dense smog, filthy rivers and soil laced with heavy metal fueled public calls for action. Many cities have put in place restrictions on cars and relocated polluting plants away from urban centers in response.
For more on China’s pollution, click this link: China’s Toxic Smog Forces Debate on Health Trade-Offs: QuickTake
SOurce:Bloomberg