Economic Daily: The steel industry's ultra-low emission transformation has entered the fast track

  Recently, the reporter learned from the third-quarter information conference held by the China Iron and Steel Industry Association that as of the end of September, 34 companies had completed the monitoring and evaluation of ultra-low emission in the whole process of about 179 million tons of steel production capacity and announced it on the website of the Iron and Steel Association. About 129 million tons of steel production capacity of the company has completed part of the ultra-low emission monitoring and evaluation publicity.

  This is a new progress in the green and low-carbon development of the steel industry. From the perspective of energy saving and emission reduction effects, in the first three quarters, the total energy consumption of CISA member iron and steel enterprises decreased by 4.10% year-on-year, the total amount of discharged wastewater decreased by 21.46% year-on-year, the chemical oxygen demand decreased by 23.10% year-on-year, and sulfur dioxide emissions decreased by 19.48% year-on-year %, particulate matter emissions decreased by 19.17% year-on-year, and nitrogen oxide emissions decreased by 11.69% year-on-year.

  Since the beginning of this year, the operating environment of the iron and steel industry has been relatively severe, and the production and operation of enterprises are facing more challenges. The industry overcame difficulties to move forward and remained relatively stable overall.

  From the perspective of production, in the first three quarters, the country's cumulative steel output was 781 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 3.4%; pig iron output was 656 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%; steel output was 1.006 billion tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.2%.

  From the perspective of steel prices, the average value of my country's steel price index in the first three quarters was 126.90 points, a year-on-year decrease of 11.42%. It rose slightly from January to April, continued to fall from May to July, and stabilized in August and September.

  From the perspective of economic benefits, in the first three quarters, the member iron and steel enterprises of China Iron and Steel Association realized operating income of 4.8667 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.27%; operating costs of 4.5261 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.69%; total profits of 92.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 71.34%. Although the economic benefits have dropped sharply year-on-year, the management expenses and financial expenses of iron and steel enterprises have kept falling, and the research and development expenses have increased by 11.9% year-on-year. The overall asset status of the industry is relatively good.

  It is understood that the total profit of steel enterprises in the first three quarters has fallen sharply, which is directly related to the industry's pressure from the market and costs, and there is also a factor of the high base last year. On the one hand, the downstream demand for steel is generally weak, driving steel prices to continue to fall, especially the real estate market, which is the main steel-using field, has experienced an unexpected decline, resulting in weak market expectations; on the other hand, coal coke prices are still high, according to Sinosteel According to statistics from the Association, the procurement cost of coking coal for key iron and steel enterprises increased by 51.1% year-on-year, and the procurement cost of PCI coal increased by 40.3% year-on-year. The cost has also risen sharply, which has increased the cost pressure of enterprises.

  "With the recovery of my country's economy and the improvement of market expectations, the national average daily steel production in August and September has rebounded month-on-month, and the overall operation of the industry has remained relatively stable, and has shown a trend of stabilization and improvement." Vice President of China Iron and Steel Association Qu Xiuli, secretary-general, said that in the later period, with the implementation of the national economic stabilization package policy and the formation of more physical workloads, the national economy will continue to recover and develop, and steel demand is expected to improve on the current basis.

  "The iron and steel industry must shift from relying on economies of scale to 'variety structure' to win, and some high-quality steel products still have considerable market growth." Qu Xiuli said that iron and steel enterprises must actively adapt to market changes by increasing the high value-added products needed by the market. Improve your own profitability. At the same time, it is very important to strengthen industry self-discipline, and some enterprises still need to strengthen the aspects of "determining production based on sales, determining production based on efficiency, and determining sales based on cash".

  "The CISA will continue to strengthen the close cooperation among enterprises, industries and the government, actively explore and establish a new mechanism for capacity governance under the new development environment as soon as possible, optimize the policy environment, vigorously promote the joint restructuring of the industry, and continuously increase the degree of industrial concentration." Shi Hongwei, deputy secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, said that capacity replacement, ultra-low emissions, and extreme energy efficiency are the three major steel transformation projects covering the entire industry and will continue to advance.

  How to ensure high-quality completion of ultra-low emission transformation work under the circumstance of obvious decline in corporate benefits? Huang Dao, deputy secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, introduced that in accordance with the requirements of the "Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of Ultra-low Emissions in the Iron and Steel Industry" issued by five ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, by the end of 2025, the national iron and steel industry will strive to complete more than 80% of its production capacity transformation. As of the end of October this year, about 400 million tons of production capacity has basically completed the ultra-low emission transformation of the whole process or some processes, with an investment of more than 150 billion yuan. According to estimates, various steel companies have invested in ultra-low emission transformations ranging from nearly 200 yuan to about 600 yuan per ton of steel. In addition, the operation and maintenance costs will also increase, which will bring more costs to the company's operating costs under the current market conditions. Greater pressure.

 "Green development is an ongoing proposition for the iron and steel industry, and we must unswervingly promote ultra-low emissions. We must reduce project costs by promoting and applying advanced common technologies, and strive to reduce follow-up transformation investments to help industry companies complete their goals and tasks on schedule." Huang Dao Say.

-----China Iron and Steel Association