Environmental tax plan now with Cabinet
CHINA S landmark environmental tax plan had been submitted to the State Council, China s Cabinet, a petroleum and chemical industry association said yesterday.
Domestic media reported last August that three Chinese ministries would soon submit a proposal for an environmental tax on a trial basis. The tax, likely to be levied on emissions of carbon dioxide and discharges of polluted water, would form part of the government s drive for a greener economic growth.
Rules tightened for solar polysilicon plants
THE government tightened rules for polysilicon factories, a move that could spur consolidation in the world s largest supplier of solar panels.
Under policies announced Tuesday, new factories must be able to produce more than 3,000 tons of polysilicon a year and meet certain efficiency, environmental and financing standards. Existing plants that did not comply with new power-consumption regulations by the end of the year will be shut down, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement.
Copper imports may drop on scrap use
IMPORTS of refined copper by China, the largest user, would probably drop for a second year as record prices spur consumption of scrap, said Maike Futures Co.
Net purchases could decline by 4.5 percent to 2.75 million tons this year from 2.88 million tons in 2010, Ren Gang, head of Maike s research department, said Tuesday. They fell 7.4 percent last year. The broker was a unit of Maike Metal International Group, a Xi an-based metals company which traded as much as 500,000 tons a year, its Web site said.
