National Development and Reform Commission: Resolutely Eliminating Backward Capacity of the Calcium Carbide Industry

Experts believe that the next part of the chemical industry will also be regulated due to high power consumption. The calcium carbide industry has not escaped the fate of macro regulation.

Yesterday, seven ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Environmental Protection Administration, and the State Electricity Regulatory Commission issued the "Circular on Accelerating the Structural Adjustment of the Calcium Carbide Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") for the calcium carbide industry.

The "Notice" clearly stated that in the future, we will resolutely eliminate backward production capacity, and we must strictly control the new Shanghangshan Iron and Steel Project, especially in the eastern coastal areas and regions where energy and resources are relatively scarce. In principle, the construction of new calcium carbide production projects is prohibited.

The "four crimes" in the calcium carbide industry

The calcium carbide chemical name of calcium carbide can provide raw materials for industry, agriculture and medicine. As the basic raw material for organic synthesis industry, the important position of calcium carbide can not be ignored. The seven ministries and commissions reviewed the four major drawbacks of the calcium carbide industry in yesterday’s posting.

Excess production capacity, more than double the actual demand. According to statistics, at the end of 2005, domestic calcium carbide production capacity has reached 17 million tons, which is twice the actual output of the current year, and the production capacity has far exceeded the market demand.

The company is small in size and its technical equipment is backward. From the perspective of technical equipment, the production capacity of a large fully enclosed submerged arc furnace with advanced technology, effective control of emissions, and comprehensive utilization of resources accounted for only about 5% of the total capacity.

Environmental pollution is still serious. As a high-energy-consuming, high-emissions industry, calcium carbide emits a large amount of dust-laden flue gas during the production process. It is estimated that in 2004 China's calcium carbide industry produced more than 60 billion cubic meters of dust-laden flue gas.

The lack of overall planning for the development of the calcium carbide industry has resulted in a low level of expansion in the number of small enterprises, backward technology, poor production conditions, low resource utilization efficiency, and serious environmental pollution.

According to an expert from the National Information Center, the first quarter energy consumption indicators sounded a warning bell for this year's energy conservation work. This prompted the National Development and Reform Commission to increase macroeconomic control over high-energy-consuming industries. Symptoms must inevitably be contained.

The "Notice" clearly stated that in the future, the country will use tough measures to help the calcium carbide industry grow.

In the future, in the areas along the east coast where energy and resources are scarce, new calcium carbide production projects will be banned in principle. In particular, the major calcium-producing areas in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Ningxia, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu must formulate industry development plans in an integrated manner in accordance with the carrying capacity of resources, electricity, transportation, and the environment in the region.