Coal-to-gas switching slows down, tire companies may resume production

The Ministry of Environmental Protection issued Dec. 4 the Letter for comprehensive treatment of bulk coal and making sure people pass the winter warmly to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

The file says that as the heating season comes, in places where the coal-to-gas (electricity) switching hasn’t been completed, the coal-fired heating method can be sustained.

Coal is the major energy for tire companies to produce and keep the rooms warm.

In early 2017, the MEP issued a circular of 2017 on the Working Plan to Combat Air Pollution in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Surrounding Areas, asking these regions to complete the coal-to-gas (electricity) program before end-Oct.

Currently, tire companies failed to complete the switching have mostly stopped production.

To substitute coal with gas, producers have to bear large amount of costs on the reconstruction work, which is too much for some small tire producers, and they can only stopped production.

As the MEP loosens the coal-to-gas switching policy, an industry insider holds that some tire companies may resume their production.