China curbs expansion of tungsten

The world's biggest producer of tungsten, tin and antimony, China, has introduced new environmental, financing and energy standards to curb the building and expansion of smelters and processing plants for the metals.

The new regulations took effect from January 1, the National Development and Reform Commission on Monday said in a statement posted on its website. The smelters must use their own capital for 50 per cent or more of the value of a project, it said.

China aims to build national strategic stock-piles of minerals and crude oil to help sustain an economy that grew 10.4 per cent in the third quarter last year.

The government has imposed similar measures on copper smelters and imposed taxes and loan restrictions to curb exports of metals regarded as energy intensive.

The rule is "to properly develop China's advantageous resources, optimise the utilisation of resources and promote industry restructuring," the Beijing-based commission said in the statement.

Tungsten is used to make filaments in light bulbs. Antimony is used to make battery plates and tin is used mostly in soldering electronic components.

The government won't allow building and expansion of smelters that can't secure reliable and sufficient supplies of raw materials, the statement said. It also forbids the purchase of supplies from illegal mines.

It also forbids the building of new smelters and production facilities within 1-kilometer radius of areas such as protected reserves of drinking water, natural reserves, hospitals, medium to large cities, tourist sites, as well as food, drug-making or electronic-manufacturing sites, according to the rules.

Under the rules, newly built or improved smelters must meet environmental and energy standards, the commission said.

Approved tungsten projects should have annual output capacity of at least 2,000 tonne of tungsten powder, or 100 tonne of semi-finished products, or 200 tonne of hard alloys.

Tin projects must have annual capacity above 8,000 tonne. Antimony projects should have capacity above 5,000 tonne, the statements said.