EXPANSION of cement and glass production capacity will be strictly off-limits in China in 2018, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said yesterday.

The MIIT notice comes just over a month before winter restrictions on construction activity in 28 cities in northern China are due to be lifted in the middle of March. The restrictions are imposed as part of a sweeping environmental protection campaign.

New cement and glass-making projects that are “absolutely necessary” must follow replacement capacity rules, so as to ensure that the total production capacity will only decrease and not rise, the MIIT said in a statement on its website.

China has been cracking down on excess capacity in a range of industries as part of supply-side reforms, but allows some shuttered capacity to be replaced with more modern and efficient facilities.

The China Cement Association said in December that 392.7 million tons of capacity, or one-tenth of the total, would be eliminated by 2020.

The country’s cement output fell 0.2 percent year on year to 2.32 billion tons in 2017, according to the MIIT in an annual review of the building materials sector yesterday. Flat glass production rose 3.5 percent to 790 million weight cases.

The Chinese building materials industry achieved revenues of 7.5 trillion yuan (US$1.19 trillion) in 2017, up 8 percent year on year, as average material prices rose by 8.2 percent after falling for two straight years previously, the MIIT said.

Flat glass prices have been steadily rising since September, it added.

In another report released by the MIIT on Sunday, the country’s steel industry posted higher prices and better profits last year as a result of progress made in reducing excessive capacity.

Despite the improvement, the MIIT warned of more difficulties in further capacity reduction as the increased profits may lure some producers to launch new projects.

(SD-Agencies)