According to reports, this guidance is based on the blind investment trends that have emerged in some regions and enterprises. The National Development and Reform Commission recently approved the vacuum salt production project of Jiangxi Fidelity Co., Ltd. This is the first approved salt production project since the establishment of an approval system for the salt industry.
According to the prediction of China Salt Industry Association, the total salt consumption in China will increase by an average of 3 million to 3.5 million tons per year, and the market demand in 2010 will reach more than 65 million tons. The Two Alkali Association predicts that the average annual growth rate of the two alkali production during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan†period will be about 8%, that is, the average annual increase in salt production for the two alkalis will be about 3 million tons. However, these forecasts do not appear to have prevented the recent trend of illegal construction and blind investment in expanding salt production capacity in some regions and enterprises. It is forecasted that the new production capacity of the salt industry this year will reach 10 million tons. Even with the addition of other small-scale industrial salts, it is impossible to avoid the situation of excess production capacity, which in turn will cause pressure on resources, transportation and environmental protection.
The overheating of salt projects is due to the fact that the production capacity of two alkalis has grown too fast. The Chinese Soda Industry Association stated that the Development and Reform Commission has solicited the opinions of the association on the formulation of guidance on salt industry and the association supports the introduction of this policy. It is understood that the current domestic production of two alkalis stabilized at more than 20 million tons. There is no causal link between the excess production capacity in the salt production industry and the production of two alkalis. The regulation of the salt production project by the NDRC should not affect the development of the two alkali industries.
It is understood that last year, under the pressure of excessive supply of raw salt in the country, salt companies could not start importing raw salt. Last year, two alkali companies imported nearly 1 million tons of raw salt from abroad and they still have imports this year. It is in this context that there has been a trend of blindly expanding investments in salt projects.
According to statistics from the China Salt Industry Association, the total output of crude salt in 2004 was 38 million tons, of which 80% was industrial salt.
The national energy regulation and control policy once again spread to a new area --- salt resources. On December 28th, the reporter learned from the relevant departments of the National Development and Reform Commission that for the current trend of illegal construction in the salt manufacturing industry in China and blindly investing in expanding production capacity, the National Development and Reform Commission is stepping up its efforts to formulate guidance on salt industry and macro-control the total capacity of the salt industry. Illegal construction projects will be cleaned up. Both alkali industries expressed support for this.