China to Expedite Phasing out Obsolete Capacity      

China's central government issued a fresh edict on April 6th to shut down outdated and inefficient plants in a dozen sectors ranging from power, coal, coke, ferroalloy, calcium carbide, steel, nonferrous metals to building materials, light industry and textiles with specific targets.
   In the coke sector, coking chambers with less than 4.3 meters in height will be phased out by the end of 2010 (excluding stamp-charging coke ovens of 3.2 meters and above in height).
   In calcium carbide, all submerged arc furnaces below 6300 kVA will be eliminated by the end pf 2010.
   In the building materials sector, all mechanized cement shaft kilns with kiln diameter of less than 3.0 meters will be phased out by the end of 2012, as it will be for all dry hollow kilns with kiln diameter of less than 2.5 meters (except those for high-alumina cement), all wet kiln cement production lines (except those used for the treatment of sludge and carbide, among others), cement mills with diameter of less than 3.0 meters (except for specialty cement production) and other outdated units such as earth kilns and ordinary shaft kilns. The Colburn process flat glass production lines and other outdated glass production lines will be eliminated by the end of 2012.
   In the light industry, the government orders the closure of straw pulp facilities with annual capacity below 34 000 t/a, and chemical pulping lines with capacity of less than 17 000 t/a as well as paper production lines using waste paper as feedstock with capacity of less than 10 000 t/a by the end of 2011. Other facilities to be closed by the same deadline include obsolete alcohol plants and alcohol lines with capacity of less than 30 000 t/a (excluding those using waste molasses as input), monosodium glutamate plant of less than 30 000 t/a, citric acid plants that do not meet environmental protection standards, as well as leather production lines with annual capacity of less than 30 000 standard pieces.
   In the textile segment, the 74-type dyeing and finishing production lines, and other energy and water intensive nits will be eliminated by the end of 2011. Other outdated fiber units to be phased out include the R531 old-fashioned viscose fiber spinning machines, the viscose production lines with annual capacity of less than 20 000 t/a, spandex production lines based on wet and DMF solvent processes, DMF solvent process acrylic fiber production lines, semi-automatic winding equipment with the length of polyester filament spindles below 900 millimeter, as well as polyester facilities based on intermittent process.