October 20 -- The Harbin Administration of Industry and Commerce conducted checks and found that stainless steel cookware costing less than 200 yuan produced by Zhejiang Supor  (002032.SZ) contained excessive levels of manganese and insufficient nickel, reports China Business News.

The Harbin Administration of Industry and Commerce had confiscated more than 1,000 units from 81 models of the cookware since August.

Gome and Suning stores had suspended sales of Supor’s related cookware.

Supor has applied for its cookware to be re-inspected as it believes its products meet the required standards and had been certified by related government departments.

Market insiders said the situation of excessive manganese and insufficient nickel might be caused by the higher cost of nickel, which had surged to more than 200,000 yuan per ton this year.

In its first-half report, Supor said operating cost increased 21.51 percent year-on-year due to higher aluminum and stainless steel costs.