China's Henan, the top refined lead producing province in the country, has shut down up to 240,000 tonne of annual lead smelting capacity in recent days after lead poisoning was reported to have affected hundreds of children in Shaanxi province, smelter officials said on Monday.
"Three plants were shut on Sunday, with a monthly output 15,000-20,000 tonnes," a senior executive at a large lead smelter in Henan told Reuters. He added the closed capacity was in Jiyuan city.
A sales manager at a medium-size lead smelter in Henan said the provincial government had asked lead smelters to shut down capacity that did not meet national environmental standards in China, the world's top lead producer.
"About a third of the province's lead smelting capacity could be closed eventually," he said.
Henan has more than 1 million tonnes of lead smelting capacity and less than half have reached that standards, the manager estimated.
"There are increasing voices asking for closure," a trade manager at a major lead smelter in Henan said.
He added the provincial government had not issued an official document to force smelter closing such capacity but given verbal requests.
Henan produced a third of China's refined lead at 600,996 tonnes in the first half, up 9.13 percent, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
China's fourth-biggest zinc producer Dongling Group is maintaining full production at two zinc lines with combined annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes in Shaanxi province, after shutting a 100,000-tonne lead and zinc plant blamed by locals for being a source of lead poisoning.
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