Since mid-September, a swathe of provincial governments in China have imposed power cuts and rationing on local industrial users, which could cast a bigger influence on downstream fabricating sectors than previous curbs, sources said.
This is the second time that industrial users have received power rationing orders in the year. The first was in July, when hot weather strained the country's grid. Prior to this, small-scale restrictions had already emerged; Yunnan province imposed power cuts on zinc and aluminum smelters in May, market participants noted.
The fresh move came with the country's green call on curbing energy consumption. This round of restrictions has been rolled out in 18 provinces, more than half the provinces in China. Provinces impacted include manufacturing powerhouses Guangdong and Jiangsu, where downstream base metal fabricators and manufacturers are concentrated, sources said.
"Guangxi, Hubei and Yuannan provinces, [where] some major tin producers [are] located, will have to cut production, but we assess [that a] bigger impact would be seen in the metal's downstream sectors in Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces," a tin end user told Fastmarkets.
"No matter how...