Tin recyclers in southern areas of China have cut production as the government toughened environmental checks and imposed power restrictions. “Most producers in Guangdong have suspended more than half of their capacity, as was ordered by the local government, and also partly due to power restrictions,” Zhao Maohe, general manager of Shenzhen Yuta Tin Co., told Bloomberg. “It’s hard to say when production will return to normal.”
ITRI estimates that secondary tin accounted for 30% of China’s total refined tin production of 155,000 tonnes last year, with Guangdong by far the most important province for recycling. Solder plants in Guangdong and Zhejiang are also affected by power restrictions, as well as weakening demand from electronics plants in the south of China, reducing the supply of manufacturing scrap to recyclers.
China has recently tightened environmental checks on metal producers following reports that residents living near lead plants were found with excessive levels of the metal in their blood. Lead-acid battery plants and recyclers in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan and Henan provinces have suspended production from mid-May as a result. Power supply remains tight in southern China because of high temperatures and insufficient coal supply, the National Development and Reform Commission said last week.
