China's electricity system is particularly stretched this summer, so aluminium, zinc and lead smelters have received repeated notices for several weeks that they should restrict power use, and many are not still seeing an end to the situation, Fastmarkets has learnt.
"Power consumption limits will be a recurring issue for Chinese smelters, [and] not only for summer. [They are] likely to be extended throughout the year," a source with a major Chinese zinc smelter in Guangxi said, after receiving a notice from the provincial energy supplier to carry out peak-load shifting measures from mid-July onward.This means that power...