China's talc industry readies for processing upgrade

• Autores: Yoke Wong
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 595, 2017 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Julio-Agosto)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The goal of cleaning up the domestic environment, set as a top priority by Premier Xi Jinping as part of China's 13th Five Year Plan in 2016, has had a particularly adverse affect on the mining industry. Now talc producers are being targeted, Yoke Wong, IM Head of Market Reporting, finds.

    China's talc industry has been urged by the national government to upgrade its ore separation and production facilities, as part of the country's accelerated green industrial development initiative.

    Cleaning up the domestic environment was set as a top priority by Premier Xi Jinping as part of China's 13th Five Year Plan, which runs from 2016 to 2020.

    This goal has placed a particularly heavy burden on the country's mining industry. In order to ensure that different mineral sectors are able to meet this challenge, China's Ministry of Information and Technology (MIIT) has engaged in a number of consultation exercises, with talc industry participants invited to provide feedback on a series of proposed reforms by 20 June.

    Under the reform programme, newly-built or expanded talc projects must adhere to the provisions of China's updated mining resources policy, which includes tough restrictions on emissions and waste, and be approved by national and local planning authorities.

    A waiting game at the Pingdu talc mine, Shandong? China's talc industry have been given a clear-cut message from the government to clean up its act, in line with the other environmental reforms taking place in other industrial minerals markets. Industrial Minerals In order to help curb oversupply, capacity growth will be strictly controlled and priority will be given to inventory optimisation, mergers and business reorganisations and increasing industry concentration.

    All outdated capacity is set to be eliminated and the government will encourage the establishment of new talc operations in areas with the richest deposits and close to the country's industrial zones.

    No talc projects will be permitted in designated areas of outstanding natural beauty, or in areas protected due to their environmental, ecological or cultural importance. Projects will also be banned near drinking water sources and in non-industrialised parts of China.