SteelOrbis Shanghai
On September 3, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced the progress achieved to date regarding the first batch of production capacity to be eliminated according to the notice issued by the NDRC on April 27, 2007.
The announcement was made at a meeting held by the State Council regarding the shutdown and elimination of outdated capacity in the steel industry. At the meeting, the National Development and Reform Commission and 10 major steel producing provinces, including Hebei and Shanxi, signed the protocol regarding the first batch of outdated steel production to be closed down and eliminated within the "11th Five-Year Plan".
The total capacity to be shut down within this plan includes 39.86 million metric tons of iron making capacity, and 41.67 million metric tons of steel making capacity, belonging to a total of 344 enterprises. Of these capacity figures, 22.55 million metric tons of iron making capacity and 24.23 million metric tons of steelmaking capacity are planned to be eliminated this year.
So far, the 10 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have closed down 9.69 million metric tons of iron making capacity and 8.73 million metric tons of steelmaking capacity this year; completing 43 percent and 36 percent respectively of the targeted figures.
In addition, 2.98 million metric tons of iron-smelting capacity, which was not included in the plan, has also been shut down in Shanxi. Also, Magang closed down five blast furnaces of 300 million cubic meters with a total iron making capacity of 1.75 million metric tons, which was not included in the plan either.