The fall and winter 'stop work order' has come! Seven provinces and 65 cities need to implement comprehensive treatment of air pollution in autumn and winter!

A few days ago, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a regular press conference in October. In order to continue the prevention and control of air pollution in autumn and winter, ten ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the people's governments of seven provinces (municipalities) have jointly issued the "Autumn and Winter Air Pollution Control Plan for 2021-2022."

According to the plan, during the autumn and winter period (October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022), the average concentration of PM2.5 in related cities will drop by 4% year-on-year, and the number of heavy pollution days will decrease by 2 days per city on average. The plan has deployed 10 key tasks and measures, including resolutely curbing the blind development of the "two highs" projects, and actively and steadily implementing the management of loose coal.

Since the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "Plan", many provinces and cities have responded, and successively launched the first and second "Heavy Pollution Weather Control Plan" this winter. The production of enterprises in related industries such as steel, coking, nonferrous metals, casting, chemicals, building materials, etc. All need to be regulated, and the "stop work order" comes as scheduled.

Tangshan, Hebei issued a notice on the treatment of severely polluted weather

Notice on the initiation of the second-level emergency response to severely polluted weather

According to the forecast by the national and provincial meteorological departments, starting from October 28, our city will be controlled by a weak atmospheric pressure field, with low wind, high humidity, and poor diffusion conditions. There will be a process of moderate to severe pollution, reaching the orange warning level. In order to be effective in this round of pollution process and minimize the degree of pollution, in accordance with the "Reminder Letter on Strengthening Control and Actively Responding to this Round of Pollution Process" by the Provincial Atmosphere Office (Jiqi Lingban Letter [2021] No. 96), the city will respond to severely polluted weather. The headquarters decided that the city will initiate a Class II emergency response to severely polluted weather at 20:00 on October 27, 2021, and the release time will be notified separately.

Notice on launching staggered production in the autumn and winter of 2021-2022

In order to fight the battle of pollution prevention and control and consolidate the achievements of the blue sky defense war, in accordance with the "Pollution Permit Management Regulations", "Shanxi Province Air Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations", "Technical Guidelines for the Development of Emergency Emission Reduction Measures for Key Industries in Heavy Pollution Weather" and "Shanxi Province Air Quality Consolidation" Enhancement of the Action Plan for 2021, and other regulations, for peak production in key industries in the fall and winter of 2021-2022. The method of peak production is to stop production lines or main production processes (equipment), and take turns to stop production companies in industries that can interrupt processes. Implementation method, for uninterrupted production lines or production processes, adopt the method of adjusting the production load throughout the autumn and winter.

The areas affected by the suspension this year involve 7 provinces and 65 cities, an increase of 26 prefectures and cities compared with last year. The scope of control includes most areas of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and Shaanxi.

For cities that have failed to complete the final air quality improvement targets or have slow progress in key tasks, openly interview the main government officials. If tampering or falsification of monitoring data is found, the assessment result will be directly deemed as unqualified and will be held accountable in accordance with laws and regulations.

Although the "stop work order" can alleviate environmental problems, it has a negative impact on the economy of these industries. Suspension of work and production will firstly bring about lower profits, and secondly, the unemployment of workers at the corresponding industrial grassroots positions.

The implementation of the “stop work order” not only affects the heavy industry but also the real estate industry. The construction of real estate cannot be separated from the building materials and construction industries, which will continue to affect the coatings industry. At the same time, domestic energy consumption control has become stricter. More than 20 regions including Yunnan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui have encountered power outages and production restrictions, and some areas have restricted production by about 90%. Many major chemical provinces have successively raised industrial and commercial electricity prices by up to 80%, and the operating rate of some chemical sub-sectors is less than 30%.

2021 is undoubtedly a special year just like 2020, but I believe that adversity will eventually end. As long as we survive this cold winter, the chemical industry will usher in a new round of hope.