China’s 18 more steel mills in MIIT’s “green plant” list
Among the 18 are Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron & Steel Co in South China’s Guangdong province and Beijing Shougang Cold-rolled Sheet Co from Beijing. With the latest release, a total of 60 Chinese steel mills have been granted the title of "green plants" by MIIT, Mysteel Global noted.
Other than basic requirements such as being an independent business presence, “green plant” needs to meet all the more specific criteria in the aspects of infrastructure, product, emission, and recycling efforts, Mysteel Global understands from related MIIT documentations.
“China is seriously promoting eco-friendly manufacturing, (and) now environmental protection is not just about these steel mills’ future and development, but their existence,” a Beijing-based steel analyst commented.
Indeed, MIIT has been going all out to instill eco-friendliness in many aspects of the industrial sector, as other than the “green plant” list, it has also released lists of “green-designed products”, “green industrial parks”, and “models for green supply chain management”, Mysteel Global noted from MIIT’s release on July 18.
“We have been quite willingly improving our environmental protection efforts, as we do believe that environment is far more crucial than money,” an official from one of the 60 steel mills in North China’s Hebei province commented.
The Hebei-based steel mill invested over Yuan 4 billion ($582 million) over a stretch of few years in introducing advanced pollution reduction technology and devices from abroad, and for 2018, it invested another Yuan 1 billion in 101 eco-friendly projects including rail construction and the installation of denitration facilities at its sintering and power houses, he elaborated.
“The title (of ‘green plant’) does not have any material benefit on our daily operations, just a recognition from Beijing on our efforts in preserving the environment,” he added, though this may entitle the qualified mills to certain benefits or exemptions when the local authorities formulate steel-related policies such as restrictions on steel producers in poor air quality days.
Environmental protection efforts have already been making a difference among Chinese steel mills ever since the winter of 2018 over October-March 2019 when Beijing called for local authorities to differentiate and individualize curbing measures on steel mills basing on their respective efforts in pollution control, which had replaced the blanket control over the Chinese steel mills in the winter of 2017, Mysteel Global observed.
Chinese steel mills with rather poor environmental protection efforts will be primary targets for government checks in the future, according to Liu Bingjiang, head of air quality management department of Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
He highlighted the importance of treating steel mills differently and fairly when presenting in a recent steel conference in Beijing too.
“We should prevent those steel mills with poor environmental protection performance and with little investment in the aspect to compete with those that have invested much more and are far eco-friendlier,” he said, emphasizing, “if we allow this to exist, it means that we have failed in environmental protection surveillance.”
Beijing has been intensifying its efforts in battling against pollution since 2017, and among the ongoing efforts are “Three-year Blue Sky Safeguard” plan and the ultra-low emission drive, both to be accomplished partially or fully by 2020, requesting the domestic steel producers to be more eco-conscious and reduce their solid, liquid, and gas waste emissions.
By 2020, 60% of steel mills in the three key regions - North China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and neighbouring areas, the Yangtze River Delta and the Fenwei Plains - should meet the ultra-low emission standards, as reported.
Written by Olivia Zhang, zhangwd@mysteel.com
Edited by Hongmei Li, li.hongmei@mysteel.com
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