The high-quality development of the steel industry must be further promoted to improve quality and efficiency

    “ Currently, improving technological efficiency and reducing management costs are not only the focus of the development of the steel industry, but also an important focus for the entire industry to achieve high-quality development. ” On November 23rd, the 2019 (8th) China Iron and Steel Technology and Economy High end Forum, hosted by the Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute and the China Society of Metals, organized by the Metallurgical Technology and Economics Branch of the China Society of Metals, and co organized by the Shanghai Futures Exchange, was held in Beijing. Li Xinchuang, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, pointed out that since the beginning of this year, the country has implemented measures such as large-scale tax reduction and fee reduction, targeted reserve requirement ratio reduction, etc., which have created favorable external conditions for the survival and development of steel enterprises. The steel industry needs to strengthen its internal strength and comprehensively promote the improvement of its own quality and efficiency, which is an important measure for the steel industry to move towards high-quality development.
Qu Xiuli, Vice President of China Iron and Steel Industry Association, stated that looking ahead to the future of the steel industry, firstly, the global economy is becoming more complex and uncertain factors are increasing; Secondly, China's macro policies are proactive, but downward pressure still exists; Thirdly, environmental protection requirements are constantly increasing, and enterprise operations are facing challenges; Fourthly, the high prices of raw materials and fuels make it difficult for enterprises to improve their efficiency.
 
China's steel production and consumption have seen significant growth    Li Xinchuang introduced that since the beginning of this year, facing the increasing pressure of economic downturn, complex internal and external environment, rapid release of production capacity, trade protectionism, rising enterprise costs and many other challenges, China's steel enterprises have seized market opportunities, actively promoted ultra-low emission transformation, explored new paths for mergers and acquisitions while meeting market demand and achieving stable production increase, and achieved phased results. From a macroeconomic perspective, China's economy has continued to maintain an overall stable and progressive development trend, with major indicators still operating within a reasonable range. This overall stable and progressive trend has not fundamentally changed. However, it should be soberly recognized that the current global economic growth rate is slowing down, foreign trade is unstable, and uncertainties are increasing. Domestic cyclical problems and structural contradictions are compounded, and the overall downward pressure on the economy is significant. In particular, the International Monetary Fund has lowered its global economic growth forecast for 2019 to 3%, which is the lowest growth rate since the 2008 global economic crisis.
    “ From the perspective of the steel industry, since the beginning of this year, the efficiency of China's steel industry has significantly declined, and the prices of steel raw materials and steel products have fluctuated sharply. However, due to the domestic economic performance exceeding expectations in the first three quarters, especially driven by infrastructure construction closely related to steel, strong driving force of the real estate industry, stable growth of industrial production, and indirect driving force of mechanical and electrical product exports, China's steel production and consumption have increased significantly. ” Li Xinchuang believes that.
From January to October, the national crude steel production was 829 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%; Steel production reached 1.001 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 9.8%; Imported iron ore was 877 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%; The export of steel reached 55.087 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.8%.
 
“ In the first three quarters, member enterprises of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association achieved a profit of 146.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 32%; The sales profit margin was only 4.6%, a year-on-year decrease of 3 percentage points. ” Li Xinchuang emphasized, '; The steel industry in our country is facing many challenges and difficulties, such as rapid capacity release, international trade protectionism, and rising enterprise costs. In the future, facing the increasing pressure of economic downturn and various difficulties, the steel industry will face more difficulties and new challenges. ”
The steel industry welcomes the arrival of the low-carbon era    Miao Changxing, a first level inspector of the Industrial Policy Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, believes that China's extensive and environmentally friendly approach in the past has led to rapid economic development, but also brought serious ecological and environmental problems. As a developing country, China is more severe and complex than other developed countries, and the environmental problems that need to be solved are also more urgent. The steel industry is a typical high energy consuming and high emission industry, and the pressure of energy conservation and emission reduction is enormous. In 2018, China's total energy consumption reached 4.64 billion tons of standard coal, of which industry accounted for over 60% of primary energy consumption, and the problem of average resources has become increasingly prominent. The concept of green development proposed by our country and the establishment of ecological civilization are reflections on this extensive development model.
    Zhao Pei, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Society of Metals, introduced that industry accounts for 33% and 40% of global energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, respectively. The steel industry has the highest proportion of carbon dioxide emissions, accounting for 33.8% of the industrial proportion.
    “ In September 2016, the National People's Congress approved to join the Paris Agreement, and China will participate in the global response to climate change in the form of independent contributions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. ” Zhao Pei stated. According to predictions, in a few years, the spot trading volume of China's carbon market will reach 8 billion yuan per year, and the trading scale of carbon futures may reach 400 billion yuan, making it the third largest commodity trading market in China after securities trading and government bonds.
    “ Under the premise of controlling the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions, timely, orderly, and scientific development should be carried out, but not in a rush. Considering environmental protection and efficiency, China's steel industry should have laid out early and welcomed the arrival of the low-carbon era. But whether it can develop or not is closely related to the government's policy orientation. It is hoped that with the help of government leverage, the market can develop healthily. ” Zhao Pei believes.
    Zhao Pei emphasized, '; Mandatory reduction of carbon dioxide emissions will force steel companies to develop low-carbon technologies, which will have a significant impact on the industry and enterprises, and become a huge challenge for the industry and enterprises in the future. Unfortunately, the vast majority of enterprises are not aware of this issue. ”
 
 
 
The steel industry must deepen the promotion of quality and efficiency improvement    Li Xinchuang pointed out that standing at a new historical starting point, the future development of China's steel industry will present new characteristics such as quality improvement, technological upgrading, green development, layout optimization, industrial extension, process optimization, and mergers and acquisitions. To achieve high-quality development in the steel industry, it is necessary to deepen the implementation of quality and efficiency improvement, and further enhance the core competitiveness of China's steel industry in the world.
    “ At present, China's steel industry is in a critical period of transformation and upgrading. Promoting technological and management innovation will help modernize the steel industry, accelerate the historic leap of China's steel industry from large to strong, promote China's manufacturing industry to enter the ranks of world powers, and achieve high-quality development. ” Miao Changxing pointed out.
    Miao Changxing believes that to promote high-quality development of steel, firstly, we must steadfastly advance innovative development. Innovation is the key to high-quality development; Bull Nose” Innovation must be placed at the core of the overall development of the manufacturing industry, continuously improving the quality and efficiency of the supply system. To promote innovative development in the steel industry, it is necessary to strengthen the dominant position of enterprises in technological innovation, enhance the research and development of common key technologies, strengthen the construction of innovative talent teams, and improve intellectual property capabilities. Secondly, we must deepen the promotion of integrated development. Integrated development is an important means of transforming traditional manufacturing industries and cultivating and developing advanced manufacturing industries. It is also an important lever for promoting high-quality economic development. Through integrated development, it guides new formats, new paths, new technologies, new management, and new models, promotes the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, accelerates the development of advanced manufacturing industries, and accelerates the construction of a modern economic system, enhancing the core competitiveness and industrial path in China's traditional system. Thirdly, we must comprehensively promote green development. Some steel enterprises in our country have reached the world's advanced level in various indicators, but there are still shortcomings in pollution control, waste utilization, environmental protection system construction, including integration and symbiosis with cities. To promote the green development of the steel industry, it is necessary to optimize the industrial structure, implement green manufacturing, and develop a circular economy. Fourth, enhance the coordinated development of industries. The modernization level of the industrial chain is an important indicator for measuring high-quality development, and promoting the modernization of the steel industry chain is also a daunting task. To strengthen the industrial system, improve the basic enterprise system, comprehensively enhance the control and leading capabilities of industrialization, and lay a solid foundation for the modernization of the industrial chain; A tough battle;. Fifth, continuously improve the level of management innovation. Enterprise management innovation involves various aspects such as corporate culture, organization, human resources, compensation, and processes, which run through all aspects of the enterprise and are also related to its survival and sustainable development. Only enterprises with advanced management concepts and efficient control modes can stand firm and achieve development in competition in the future. Therefore, steel enterprises must innovate their own management system as soon as possible, adapt to the requirements of modern enterprises, adapt to the development of new generation information technology, and seek benefits from management.