China's Sichuan cuts power supply to industry amid power crunch

BEIJING (Reuters) - Producers of metals, chemicals and other industrial goods are shutting factories or curbing output in China's southwestern Sichuan province after it rationed power consumption to ensure sufficient supply to residents.

Industrial users across 19 out of 21 cities in the province were ordered to suspend production from Aug. 15 until Aug. 20 to prioritise residential power supply, according to a notice issued on Sunday by the Department of Economy and Information Technology of Sichuan.

An official at the department confirmed to Reuters it had implemented power rationing but declined to discuss details.

(Reporting by Siyi Liu in Beijing and Muyu Xu in Singapore; Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Emily Chow; Editing by Dominique Patton and David Goodman)