The Ministry of Environmental Protection has decided to suspend approval for steel projects in Shandong with immediate effect for their violation of regulations on the environmental protection. These projects include hot rolled sheet/strip technical reforms belonging to Rizhao Iron and Steel and a five million t/y steel plant at Weifang Iron and Steel. They failed to meet the relevant regulations of the Steel Industry Development Policy, which stipulates “new capacity is allowed as long as old one should be eliminated simultaneously” and “new steel projects in the coastal areas or near deep sea harbors must be equipped with 3,000-cubic meters or above blast furnaces, or 200-ton or above converters”.