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The
warning comes after the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE)
on Thursday dropped blanket production cuts on heavy industry
across northern China in its final winter anti-pollution drive
and allowed local authorities to adopt flexible measures based
on regional emission levels.
Shanghai benchmark rebar prices plunged nearly 5 percent this
week as investors speculated that production curbs would be
relaxed further this year. [IRONORE/]
"Pollution emitters must not take chances (on the new plan)...
They will still be shut down or be ordered to enforce capacity
cuts if they exceed emission standards," said Liu Youbin, MEE
spokesman, at a briefing.
Liu said improved air quality last winter showed production
restrictions on heavy industry, from steel mills to coke plants,
helped reduce toxic air that blankets the colder northern
regions during winter when households crank up heating, mainly
fueled by coal.
China will continue to carry out the curbs this year, but with
more efficient measures to ensure blue skies, he said.
The yearly average concentrations of particulate matters, known
as PM2.5, dropped by 35.6 percent in 2017 to 58 micrograms per
cubic meter.
Still, forecasts of warmer temperatures, lower rainfall and wind
in the north compared with last year may increase smog this
winter, he said.
The government has said it aims to reduce average PM2.5 reading
by around 3 percent this winter from the level last year.
Also on Saturday, Jincheng in Shanxi province became the latest
city to issue its winter anti-pollution plan, telling coke
makers to shut 30 percent of capacity from Oct. 1 and steel
mills to cut output from Nov. 15.
(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Josephine Mason; Editing by Michael
Perry & Shri Navaratnam)
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