On October 13, 2021, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Notice on Launching Staggered Production of the Iron and Steel Industry in the Heating Season of 2021-2022 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Surrounding Areas.

The plan will be implemented from November 15, 2021 to March 15, 2022. The implementation areas are 2+26 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jingjinji) region, Shanxi Province, Shandong Province, Henan Province, and Hebei Province.

The first stage will be from November 15, 2021 to December 31, 2021, to ensure the completion of the crude steel output reduction target in these regions. The second stage will be from January 1, 2022 to March 15, 2022, aiming to reduce the increased emissions of air pollutants during the heating season. In principle, the ratio of staggered production of iron and steel enterprises in the regions should not be lower than 30% of crude steel output in the corresponding period of the previous year.