Update: Northern China province to close 60% of steel mills by 2020
Following our note last week on the Chinese Government’s pledge to eliminate poor-performing “zombie companies” and tackle overcapacity in its heavy industries, the governor of the northern province of Hebei said that 240 of the 400 steel factories that currently operate there will close down by 2020; Hebei produces about a quarter of all steel made in China. He added that over the next two years, cement production capacity will be cut by two-thirds and significant cuts will be imposed on the coal and glass industries. According to financial news site Caixin, the province will lose ¥180bn ($27.6bn) in revenue and cost more than one million workers their jobs over the next two years.

(Beijing) – The northern province of Hebei plans to shut down 240 out of the 400 steel factories in the area by 2020, as part of the country's efforts to trim overcapacity that has driven prices to their lowest in decades, the provincial governor said on March 8.

The province, which churns out nearly a quarter of China's steel output, has banned new projects until it reaches a target of producing 200 million tons per year, governor Zhang Qingwei said at a media briefing on the sidelines of the ongoing meeting the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.