Benxi Steel will shut down its 103-year old No.1 Iron Plant by the end of this year to meet the environmental protection requirements.

    The plant operates two 380-cubic-meter blast furnaces, two 75-square-meter sintering machines, a 36-hole coking oven and a 55-hole coking oven, produces 950,000 tons of pig iron a year, 450,000 tons of coke, 1.8 million tons of sintering ore and 180 million cubic meters of gas.

    On the other hand, the plant discharges 4,000 tons of dust per year, accounting for three percent of the city's total dust emissions, 8,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, accounting for six percent and 2,000 tons of COD, representing 4.4 percent.