Chinese city says Xinfa aluminium capacity cut

BEIJING: Xinfa Group, one of China’s top aluminium producers, will have to close 381,900 tonnes per year of smelting capacity this winter, its home city of Liaocheng confirmed on Friday.

Xinfa must shut 30 per cent of its pots in Liaocheng, one of 28 northern Chinese cities ordered to impose restrictions on industrial output this winter to combat smog, from November 15 to March 15, 2018, according to a document published on the Liaocheng government website.

A draft of the document circulating earlier this week contained the same number for the Xinfa cut and Liaocheng has now finalised its restrictions for the heating season.

Xinfa’s smelting capacity in Liaocheng, in the eastern Shandong province, was listed as 1.58 million tonnes per year, although it also has capacity in Xinjiang that will not be subject to winter cutbacks. — Reuters