China to Eliminate Outdated Cement Production Capacity, Cut Emissions

China aims to eliminate 250 million tonnes of outdated production capacity in the cement industry in the 2011-2015 period, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Tuesday.

The country's top 10 cement companies will see their combined output account for 35 percent of the national total by 2015, up from 25 percent in 2010, according to the 12th Five-Year Plan for the building material industry released by the MIIT.

Cement producers are expected to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide by 10 percent and 8 percent respectively in the period, said the ministry.

During the five-year period, emissions of carbon dioxide per unit of industrial added value will be reduced by 17 percent, according to the plan.

The ministry noted that the industrial added value of cement enterprises will expand at an annual average rate of more than 10 percent from 2011 to 2015.

It forecast the domestic market demand for cement to rise by 3-4 percent annually on average to reach 2.2 billion tonnes in 2015, a slower pace than the current level as the country increases efforts to make its economy less reliant on fix-asset investment and more on technologies and consumption.

China's cement output rose 18 percent year-on-year to 1.7 billion tonnes in the first 10 months of the year, according to official data.