China Dong Ling, Yuguang plan Aug zinc plant starts
By Polly Yam
HONG KONG, April 3 (Reuters) - China's Dong Ling Group will start production at an 80,000 tonne-a-year zinc facility in July-August, which will boost capacity to about 250,000 tonnes a year, a company official said on Thursday.
Yuguang Gold and Lead, China's top lead producer, will also begin production at a new 100,000-tonne zinc facility in August-September, a company official said.
China, the world's top producer of zinc, is expected to add at least 450,000 tonnes of zinc capacity this year, including Dong Ling's and Yuguang's new facilities, industry officials said.
A trade manager at Dong Ling said the firm also wanted to build two more 100,000-tonne zinc facilities in Shaanxi province as part of a plan to boost zinc capacity to 500,000 tonnes a year in 2012.
"We still have two more 100,000 tonne projects. We will focus on zinc in the future," he told Reuters.
Zinc is a galvanising material for steel used in the construction, automotive and appliance sectors.
The Dong Ling trade manager said the firm was optimistic about growth in domestic zinc consumption, as infrastructure development would boost steel production in China, the world's top steel producer.
Dong Ling is expanding its investment in lead and zinc mining in Xinjiang and Tibet and hopes to produce 300,000 tonnes of lead and zinc in ore in 2012, he said.
The firm is operating 200,000 tonnes of lead and zinc capacity of which 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes is lead, the manager said. It has no plan to expand its lead capacity.
Dong Ling will produce 230,000 tonnes of refined lead and zinc this year of which 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes will be lead, he added. It produced nearly 170,000 tonnes of lead and zinc last year.
An official at Yuguang Gold and Lead Co (600531.SS) said the listed firm's parent would start up 100,000 tonnes of new capacity at its zinc plant in August to September, which would double plant's capacity.
The parent plans to build another 100,000 tonnes of zinc capacity at the same plant in the future, he said. (Editing by Edmund Klamann)
