Energy intensive industries in Qinghai province slashed

Friday, 28 Nov 2008

According to news from Qinghai provincial government, affected by the world economic crisis, the energy intensive industries of the province have been notably slashed, with production in enterprises suspended partially or wholly. In the meantime, prices of staple commodities have declined sharply.

Statistics show that by November 17th, the sectors of ferroalloy, carbofrax, calcium carbide and electrolytic aluminum had suspended their production by an extent of 71%, 46%, 83% and 15.5% respectively. The downturn in energy-intensive industries has brought bad influence to employment. At present, about 3,000 workers were laid off, and the majority of them had been working in metallurgical industry.

The vice governor of the province said "The downturn in energy-intensive industry is a double-edged sword. In recent years, the energy-intensive industry had grown rapidly. However, the capacities were scattered, waste and pollution became increasingly severe. He stressed that during the downturn a process of natural elimination could be achieved, making the downturn somehow beneficial in the long term.”