China Copper Smelter Closed Amid Arsenic Probe
Date: 23-Dec-04
Country: CHINA
Author: Polly Yam
"After investigation, (we) will consider how to handle it," said an official for the Environmental Protection Administration in Fuxin, in the northeastern province of Liaoning.
"We do not know when the smelter will be re-opened," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. He did not say how many workers were affected.
Fuxin smelter officials were not available to comment.
Industry sources say arsenic usually is emitted during the process of smelting ores into blister, a semi-processed material used to produce copper.
Industry sources said the Fuxin smelter had bought and relocated a copper smelting facility from Shenyang Smelter, a state-owned lead and copper producer that is now closed.
They said the Fuxin smelter, located northwest of the provincial capital of Shenyang, has about 160 workers and has an operating capacity of about 20,000 tonnes of blister per year.
High copper prices have triggered many smelters in China to increase production this year to meet the demands of China's fast-growing economy. The metal is widely used in China's electronic, power and construction sectors.
In the first ten months, China produced 1.67 million tonnes or 19 percent more than the same period a year ago. China, a net importer of copper, consumes about a fifth of the world's copper supply.
Benchmark three-month London Metal Exchange copper has risen 37 percent this year to $3,130/$3,135 a tonne by 0757 GMT on Wednesday.
