?

Follow The Trend In The New Era to Promote High-Quality Development of Antimony Industry in China

After 40 years’ development since the reform and opening-up, the antimony industry in China has ushered in the critical stage of transforming from quantitative change to qualitative change. Particularly since the 12th Five-year Planning, antimony industry in China has scored remarkable progress in terms of industry scale, industry concentration, product structure, energy saving and emission reduction, safety and environmental protection and bio-safety disposal of arsenic-alkali residue by tackling numerous difficulties in technical innovation.

First, industry scale has been relatively stable. China has maintained its status as the largest antimony producer worldwide, and a major force to drive the green development of global antimony industry.

Second, the industry concentration has been further improved. At present, four industry bases have been established in Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, which gather core antimony producers in China as Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Co., Ltd., Hunan Chenzhou Mining Co., Ltd., Yunnan Muli Antimony Industry Co., Ltd., Guizhou Dongfeng Antimony Co., Ltd., Taojiang Jiutong Antimony Co., Ltd., Hechi Wuji Co., Ltd., Guangxi China Antimony Technology Co., Ltd., Guangxi Youngsun Chemicals Corporation and Lengshuijiang private enterprises, accounting for over 80% of total output in China.

Third, technical R&D has scored major achievements. Specifically, Key Technology for Disposal and Clean Utilization of Arsenic-containing Solid Waste from Nonferrous Smelting research project won the second prize of National Scientific and Technological Progress Award and was included into the National Catalogue of Advanced Pollution Control Demonstrative Technology; Key Technology and Demonstration of Comprehensive Utilization of Arsenic-Alkali Residue from Antimony Smelting research project reached major milestones and won the First Prize of Science and Technology in China Non-Ferrous Industry 2014.

Fourth, smelting industry has made technological breakthrough. In order to address the challenge of clean and low-carbon antimony smelting technology and realize the major technical progress of antimony smelting industry, universities and institutions represented by Central South University, Kunming Metallurgy Research Institute and China ENFI Engineering Co., Ltd. carried out numerous researches and tests. Key enterprises represented by Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Co., Ltd., Hunan Chenzhou Mining Co., Ltd., Yunnan Muli Antimony Industry Co., Ltd. overcame numerous difficulties, actively organized research workforce, worked with research institutes to carry out a lot of research, and have made positive progress.

Fifth, product structure has been further optimized. Multi-range and multi-grade antimonous oxide, ethylene glycol antimony and sodium antimonite including high-purity antimonous oxide as well as deep-processing products including flame-retardant master batch have increased their percentage in the product structure, antimony-based composite flame retardants with good flame resistance and processability have realized breakthrough, antimony-based catalysts for the polyester industry have increased the percentage, and antimony product deep processing has been expanded.

Despite of the great achievements, we have to seriously address the status of unbalanced and insufficient development of antimony industry in China.

First, development is unbalanced. Currently, antimony industry development is unbalanced in terms of scale vs. strength, quantity vs. quality, and quality vs. price. After years’ development, China has become the world’s largest antimony reservoir, producer, consumer and trader, but there are several weaknesses, such as mid-low end at the industry chain and value chain, good quality without competitive price, and low global influence.

Second, structural imbalance is acute. The imbalanced capacity and structure result in insufficient high-end products and excessive low-end products. This is the inevitable reflection of long-term extensive development, and also a prominent problem requiring vigorous resolution for high-quality development in the future.

Third, key technology for clean smelting is lacked. Over the past three decades, stakeholders invested less in scientific research of antimony industry with weak overall capability of independent innovation, posing a great challenge for the key technology for clean smelting and industrialized application.

Overall, the antimony industry in China shows a positive development trend, with enhanced technical innovation capability, continuous industrial structure optimization and improved quality brand strength. Currently, the antimony industry in China has laid a solid foundation for the high-quality development in the new era.

To follow the development trend in the new era, transform the status of insufficient intelligent and green development and accelerate the high-quality development, the antimony industry in China has to transform the development model by focusing on the priorities below.

1. To establish the concept of high-quality development

Transformation towards high-quality development is not only the objective law and essential characteristic of China’s economic development, but also the fundamental requirement and inevitable choice of the development of antimony industry in China.

As a major driver of the global antimony industry, antimony industry in China should establish a new positioning and concept of high-quality development, strive to establish product structure and production mode with high technical content, low resource and energy consumption and good environmental performance, and seek the virtuous cycle of ecosystem and economic system, in order to realize the organic integration of economic benefit, ecological benefit and social benefit.

At present, antimony industry in China has entered the crucial stage of technical innovation, structural adjustment and transformation & upgrading. The industry should further raise the awareness, align the thinking, enhance confidence and determination, focus on the sound development of antimony industry, unswervingly adhere to the high-quality development path, create a harmonious operating environment and strive to improve the international competitiveness.

2. To comprehensively promote the industry transformation and upgrading

In the new era of economic development, antimony industry in China should transform its focus from scale and speed growth to benefit and efficiency improvement and from quantity increase to quality improvement and branding, deploy advanced and mature technical equipment, and strive to promote the industry structural optimization, enhance international competitiveness and improve industry chain. In terms of structural adjustment, the industry should strengthen effective supply of high-end and basic capacity on one hand, and accelerate the elimination of excessive low-end capacity on the other hand. Technical innovation is required for improvement in the following three areas:

Mining: Promote the construction of green mining, drive the transformation and upgrading of traditional mining, actively advance the technical breakthrough in utilization of low-grade antimony ores and complex antimony ores, improve resource utilization rate and properly achieve solid waste recycling and mine ecological protection, etc.

Smelting: Focus on breakthrough in key technology for clean and efficient smelting, provide strong technical support for the green manufacturing roll-out in antimony industry in China, change the status of overall low-end technical equipment, and comprehensively improve the automated and intelligent equipment manufacturing level.

Application: Focus on building the service-oriented product marketing model, transform from sole product supply to service-oriented manufacturing, promote the improvement of quality, efficient and diversified supply system, and extend towards the high- and mid-end section in the industry chain by application expansion and new product development.

3. To adhere to the green development path

Chen Qunxun, Party secretary and Chairman of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, delivered an important speech at the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Summit·Corporate Culture Forum 2018. According to the speech, the nonferrous metals industry should comprehensively learn and implement President Xi Jinping’s ecological civilization thinking, establish the idea of respecting natural and historical law, follow the trend, never seek short-term development at the expense of damaging ecological environment, establish the green development concept represented by theory of “two mountains”, properly handle the relations between environmental conservation and economic development, and make them complement each other.

To implement ecological environmental protection in the new era, antimony industry in China should pay high attention to green development, properly handle the relations between production development and environmental protection, strengthen energy saving and emission reduction and comprehensive resource utilization, reduce resource consumption, improve energy saving and emission reduction, and earnestly internalize and practice the concept of green development.

To implement the Industry Green Development Planning 2016-2020 and Green Manufacturing Project Implementation Guidelines 2016-2020, and guide the green transformation of antimony industry in China, Antimony Committee of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association will adhere to the philosophy of support from green technical innovation and construction of regulations, standards and codes, and earnestly promote the construction of green manufacturing system of antimony industry.

During 2017-2018, with the strong support of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association and other stakeholders, the Antimony Committee took the lead to organize the formulation of the standards named Technical Specification for Green-design Product Assessment- Antimony Ingot, which has been officially published and included into the list of green-design product assessment standards by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Presently, the Antimony Committee are actively organizing the key enterprises to apply for the formulation of Technical Specification for Green-design Product Assessment- Antimony Processed Product, aiming to refine the assessment system in antimony industry and earnestly practice the concept of green development.

To follow the development trend in the new era, antimony industry in China must transform development mode, earnestly solve the problem of imbalanced and insufficient development, and accelerate the industry transformation and upgrading. The industry should actively practice the concept of green development, focus on the technical innovation and breakthrough, integrate the resources to address the key technology and industry problems, earnestly apply technical innovation to industry development, accelerate the transformation from high-speed growth to high-quality growth, and make arduous efforts to build a country owning a strong antimony industry.