The municipal authorities of Tangshan in China’s Hebei Province decided to initiate a level II emergency response as of eight o’clock on December 3, aiming to alleviate pollution. The measure will remain in effect until further notification.
Meanwhile, the cities of Shijiazhuang, Handan, Xingtai, Cangzhou, Baoding, Hengshui, Langfang and Dingzhou initiated a level II emergency response as of eight o’clock on December 2.
According to rules for a level II emergency, only steel mills which have minimal emission levels and are in group A may produce normally, while others will have to cut emissions and production by a range of 30 percent to 50 percent. The main reductions will be for sintering plants, as usual, but crude steel production will also be affected if the restrictions continue for a long time. Also, the operations of coking plants will be limited and transportation of raw materials by rail will be stopped for some time.
Nevertheless, rebar futures at Shanghai Future Exchange have declined by 1.17 percent on December 4 to RMB 3,871/mt.