China will ban 11 steel mills from operating due to environmental, safety and other breaches highlighted by the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Reuters reported Dec. 18.

The ministry warned 17 other mills of the same action, should they fail to rectify the violations.

Xuzhou Dongya Iron and Steel and Guangdong Century Tsingshan Nickel Industry Co. are among the companies banned for illegally adding new capacity, being under bankruptcy proceedings or failing to secure operating licenses from the local government, according to Reuters.

The companies have until Jan. 16, 2019, to appeal the decision, after which they will be banned from operating.

Jiangsu Shagang Group Co. Ltd., a unit of China Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd., and a HBIS Group Co. Ltd. subsidiary are some of the companies that will get a deadline to remedy violations, although the ministry did not specify how long they would be given, according to the report.

The ministry plans to add 12 new companies to the list of eligible enterprises, comprising 21.86 million tonnes of ironmaking capacity and 22.12 million tonnes of steelmaking capacity.