China to Shut Copper Smelters Violating Environment

China, the biggest smelteequipments used in earth moving processr of copper, may shut plants that violate environmental rules, as the government tightens regulations after a series of industrial accidents led to waste spilling into rivers and seas.

Copper smelters will need to spend two years in reorganization before they reapply for approval to operate after a ban, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement on its website today, without giving details. The ministry will have a list of approved producers, it said. “It’s all part of the government’s efforts to clean up China’s environment,” Zhao Kai, an analyst at Jinrui Futures Co., said from Shenzhen. “It will affect new entrants as they will now come under greater scrutiny.”