Coal, iron ore handling

    TIANJIN, one of China’s busiest ports, has stopped handling coal, iron ore and other non-liquid products, the latest drastic move to tackle smog as the pollution blankets northern China, four traders familiar with the move said Tuesday.

    It’s not clear when the suspension was introduced, but the move comes after authorities in Tianjin grounded dozens of flights and closed many highways due to the severe smog.

    Bigger steel cut

    CHINA’S biggest steelmaking province Hebei expects to eliminate 19.86 million tons of steel capacity next year, Xinhua reported Tuesday, quickening from this year’s target of 14.22 million tons.

    Hebei is responsible for nearly a quarter of China’s total steel output and has pledged to cut steel capacity by 31.17 million tons by 2017 and by 49.13 million tons by 2020. The province also pledged to cut ironmaking capacity next year by 17.14 million tons.

    510 million 4G users

    CHINA Mobile Ltd., the Chinese mainland’s largest telecom service provider, said Tuesday it had 510 million fourth-generation (4G) network customers in 2016, representing more than 30 percent of the world’s total 4G users.

    In October, China Mobile said it added 168 million 4G customers in the first three quarters of the year, bringing its 4G subscribers to 481 million.

    Rail freight volume

    THE country’s rail freight volume in November rose 13.9 percent from the same period last year to 304.9 million tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.

    The amount of cargo carried by railways declined 1.8 percent year on year to 3.02 billion tons in the first 11 months of 2016, the data showed. China’s October rail freight volume rose 11.2 percent from a year earlier, the biggest increase in three years, as a construction boom and government infrastructure spending spurred demand for raw materials from steel to cement.