"My department will work with relevant departments such as the National Development and Reform Commission to study and formulate policies and measures to guide the development of electric steelmaking, and strive to create a policy environment conducive to the development of electric steelmaking and to optimize the structure of steel long and short process layout." May 25 On the 20th (second) China Electric Furnace Steelmaking Science Development Forum, Xu Wenli, Director of the Steel Division of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out.
Create a good policy environment for the development of electric steelmaking
Xu Wenli believes that a good policy environment is an important guarantee for guiding the healthy development of electric steelmaking. He pointed out that China is a large steel producing country, but China's steel industry is dominated by blast furnace-converter long process, and electric furnace short process accounts for less than 10%, far lower than the United States (62%), the European Union (39%), Japan. The development level of (22%) is also lower than the global average (25.2%).
Xu Wenli said that with the continuous improvement of China's industrialization and urbanization levels and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the amount of socially accumulated scrap resources has also increased, providing favorable conditions for the development of short-flow electric furnace steelmaking. At present, the orderly promotion of the development of electric furnace steelmaking in China has become a consensus in the industry.
“In 2018, in China's crude steel production, electric furnace steel is about 90 million tons, and social scrap output is about 220 million tons, of which long process consumption is about 160 million tons, leaving only 60 million tons for short. If the proportion of electric furnace steel is further increased, it will face the problem of insufficient scrap steel resources in the short term, and it is not subject to the factors of large-scale development of electric steelmaking, etc. due to factors such as production cost,” Xu Wenli pointed out.
At present, the production cost of short-flow steel enterprises in China is higher than that of long-flow enterprises by 400 yuan/ton~500 yuan/ton. The reason is: First, the cost of scrap is high. According to estimates, scrap steel accounts for more than 75% of short-process steelmaking costs, which seriously affects the cost of electric steelmaking. The long-process absorption of scrap has continued to increase. Some enterprises have a blast furnace scrap ratio of more than 30%, making scrap resources more scarce and prices high. No, it increases the cost of electric furnace smelting. According to Wang Xinjiang, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Institute of Metals, in the current market situation, when the scrap price is 1,600 yuan / ton, the electric furnace steel is competitive, and the current scrap price is 2,300 yuan / ton to 2,400 yuan. /Ton. Second, the cost of electricity is high. Electricity costs account for 6% to 15%. According to the survey, the average electricity price in the Yangtze River Delta region reached 0.7 yuan / kWh, about twice the United States; the average electricity price in Yunnan is 0.35 yuan / kWh, the regional electricity price difference is large. It can be seen that deepening the reform of the power system and further reducing the price of electricity are necessary to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises.
He introduced that in recent years, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has carried out some work in promoting the development of electric steelmaking, and hopes to guide the healthy development of electric steelmaking by optimizing the policy environment.
Enhanced red line awareness of new capacity policy
"Encourage the development of electric steelmaking is not to allow enterprises to develop in an orderly manner, or even violate the relevant laws and regulations and industrial policies of the steel industry, but to guide enterprises to develop in accordance with the relevant rules of the steel industry." Xu Wenli stressed. He believes that the red line awareness of the policy of increasing the prohibition of new steel production capacity has become an important prerequisite for promoting the healthy development of electric steelmaking and consolidating the results of capacity reduction.
"Up to now, in the context of the improvement of the efficiency of the steel industry, there are still many companies trying to touch the red line with their own risk. In this regard, the iron and steel industry to resolve the excess capacity and the development of the work of the inter-ministerial joint meeting (hereinafter referred to as the inter-ministerial joint meeting) ) and all localities are seriously investigated." Xu Wenli pointed out. "Whether the new blast furnace-converter long process production line or the electric furnace steelmaking short-process production line, we must strictly follow the "Steel Industry Capacity Replacement Implementation Measures" issued by the Ministry, and strictly implement the capacity replacement policy." Xu Wenli stressed.
"In 2019, the inter-ministerial joint meeting will organize a key province that is prone to high incidence of violations of steel production capacity, organize a spot check to consolidate the excess capacity, and continue to exert a high-pressure situation on the outbreak of steel production capacity violations. The implementation of the capacity replacement policy, the replacement of good production capacity, further strengthen the capacity replacement audit check and supervision implementation, to ensure that the capacity replacement and the prohibition of new capacity to implement the established policy in place." Xu Wenli introduced, "This year the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has to be publicized Announced the capacity replacement program to carry out the 'reviewing' work, and for those enterprises that have repeated substitutions, false replacements, approvals of small construction and other fraudulent acts, and the implementation of replacement schemes, the joint punishment is implemented according to the law, and the relevant responsible persons are chased. Responsibility and accountability."
Xu Wenli pointed out that from the capacity-replacement projects of the steel industry announced in recent years, the capacity of electric furnace steel is about 60 million tons among the nearly 200 million tons of crude steel capacity to be newly built. The commencement or commissioning of a large number of capacity replacement projects has added momentum to the structural adjustment and transformation and upgrading of the national steel industry, and has also expanded the way to alleviate the environmental pressure of local steel companies, which is conducive to optimizing the layout of the steel industry. However, in the period when the current international trade situation is full of uncertainty and the profit base of the steel industry is still not strong, it should be “stable”. If the enterprise blindly follows the wind and invests heavily in the iron and steel smelting project, it is easy to deal with it. From the operation of the steel industry in the first quarter of this year, the steel output increased by nearly 10% year-on-year, and the total profit of the industry dropped significantly. Although the steel industry still maintains a reasonable profit range, if the company blindly pursues the expansion of production, it will inevitably aggravate the contradiction between supply and demand of steel and damage the efficiency of the industry. I hope that steel companies will be safe in times of crisis and make rational investment decisions based on their own endowments. Industry organizations should also strengthen guidance to jointly consolidate the hard-won results of the steel industry to produce capacity.
Xu Wenli believes that with the continuous optimization of the steel process structure, the steel industry is fully capable of removing the hats of the “three high industries” (high pollution, high energy consumption, high emission industries), becoming resource-saving, environmentally friendly, green and circular economy. industry. Under the new era, the development opportunities and challenges of the steel industry coexist, and the road to high-quality development is still difficult, and all steel people need to work together and move forward.