China’s top steelmaking province of Hebei will cut steel production capacity by more than 10 million tonnes this year, Securities Times reported on Thursday, citing provincial governor Xu Qin.

The region will also aim to cut 10.62 million tonnes of coal and 5 million tonnes of coke capacities this year, Xu was quoted as saying in the government work report.

The heavily polluted province, which surrounds the capital Beijing, is on the frontline of the country’s war on industrial overcapacity and pollution, with China desperate to improve air quality across the country.

Hebei shut 27.54 million tonnes of steelmaking capacity and 21.32 million tonnes of ironmaking capacity in 2017.

China as a whole has cut steel capacity by 115 million tonnes over the past two years, not far from the total target of as much as 150 million tonnes for the 2016 to 2020 period.

 

Source: af.reuters.com

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