Mills lowered blast furnace load and stopped sintering machines to comply with Tangshan city’s air quality assurance guidelines set for August-September period. In 2019, pollution curbs in August and September reduced Tangshan city’s steel output by 40,000 to 70,000mt in a month.
Tangshan-based steel mills reduced their blast furnace output by 10pc during the day, while they have to cut output upto 30pc in the night hours as per the guidelines issued by the city’s municipal authorities. Rolling mills were required to stop production from 10pm to 8 am next day, while transport through heavy vehicle is also prohibited in daytime from 8am to 10pm. There are restriction on ammonia escape concentration which should not exceed 2 mg/m during the day.
Enterprises complying with emission reduction norms will be evaluated as ‘good’ and enterprises failing to reduce reduction by less than 50pc will be labelled as ‘poor’.
Steel mills in the city that cut steel production include Tianzhu Tangyin Iron and Steel, Jing’an Iron and Steel, Kaiheng Steel Zongheng Steel, Jinma Iron and Steel, Jiujiang Steel, Xinda Steel, Songting Iron and Steel, Yanshan Iron and Steel, Rongxin Iron and Steel, Guoyi Special Steel, Chunxing Special Steel, Tanggang Stainless Steel, Ruifeng Iron and Steel, Donghua Iron & Steel, and Donghai Special Steel.
China’s Hebei province has also launched a new initiative to curb pollution which gives cash awards to whistleblowers who report incidents of pollution to authorities. The initiative will come in to effect from September 1.