China has increased its restrictions on new or upgraded tin and other plants as part of plans to slow down investment in the sector.
[SNIP]
Investors in tin, tungsten and antimony smelting and processing plants will now have to put up 50 percent of the capital required themselves, the National Development and Reform Commission said.
New regulations also include limits set for energy use and waste gas and water emissions.
Upgraded or new tin smelters will now have to produce a minimum of 8,000 tonnes of tin per year, while smelters using scrap tin must have a minimum output of 3,000 tonnes per year.
Minimum capacity restrictions of 8,000 tonnes per year and 5,000 tonnes per year apply to tungsten and antimony plants, respectively.
The restrictions follow similar ones which have already been put in place for other non-ferrous metals such as aluminium, copper and zinc.
Chinese refined tin production is estimated to have risen to close to 140,000 tonnes in 2006
