China mulling tougher caps on emissions, capacity

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment is working on a draft plan which if fully implemented, will oblige the country's steelmakers to invest even more heavily in modern and environmentally friendly facilities, Mysteel learned from market sources Wednesday. A key focus - just after many Chinese mills spent a bleak winter on reduced capacity to aid pollution control - will compel Chinese steelmakers to meet tough new emissions standards.

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment is working on a draft plan which if fully implemented, will oblige the country’s steelmakers to invest even more heavily in modern and environmentally friendly facilities, Mysteel learned from market sources Wednesday. A key focus – just after many Chinese mills spent a bleak winter on reduced capacity to aid pollution control – will compel Chinese steelmakers to meet tough new emissions standards.

According to a draft of the report dated May 7 seen by Mysteel, all steel enterprises with crude steelmaking capacities of 2 million tonnes/year or more are required to modify their equipment to meet “ultra-low” emission standards. These mills could account for up to 90% of the 247 steelmakers nationwide which Mysteel regularly canvasses for its production status surveys.

A draft of what the ministry regards as “ultra-low” emission standards is attached with the plan and sets much lower caps for air pollutants emitted during steel production than presently, even when compared with the special emission levels steelmakers in cities covered by the “2+26” scheme are still required to meet, effective from March 1. For example, under the draft, emissions of particulate matter from converters would be capped at 10 mg/cu m, compared with the 50 mg/cu m cap currently in place for mills in “2+26” areas.

However, steel enterprises are given different deadlines depending on their location by when the modifications should be completed. For example, those located in areas most frequently plagued by air pollution, such as in North China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and neighboring areas, the Yangtze River Delta and the Fenwei plains (in North China’s Shanxi province and Northwest China’s Shaanxi province) are required to complete their modifications by 2020.

But even that may not give mills sufficient time, a senior market watcher based in Beijing stressed. “It is not possible for steel enterprises to achieve such low emission standards within a short period of time, say two years, as the technical modification is complicated. Not only will the upgrade be time-consuming but also very costly,” she told Mysteel.

Besides taking steps to clean the air over their smoke stacks, steelmakers are being asked to speed up the scrapping of outdated and substandard capacities, Mysteel learns. The plan urges the elimination of sintering machines below 130 squ m, blast furnaces below 1,000 cu m, and coke ovens whose height is at or below 4.3 m and having been operated for more than 10 years.

But neither the modification of pollution control facilities nor the capacity elimination are seen as disrupting Chinese steel supply to a large extent, according to the Beijing analyst, though blast furnaces below 1,000 cu m account for around 50% of all Chinese blast furnaces presently in use, Mysteel’s database shows.

“Steelmakers should be able to flexibly arrange the modifications within the given timeframe,” she suggested. “For example, mills can carry out the upgrading when their facilities are under winter production curbs, and the capacities to be removed can be used to swap for new capacities and thus make up for any possible loss of supply.”

The modification for “ultra-low” emissions is an important move for China’s steel industry to promote industry-upgrading and improve air quality, as well as achieve the development of higher quality steel, the ministry said.

Its move also follows the remarks China’s Premier Li Keqiang made in March that the country would encourage upgrading in steel and other industries to achieve ultra-low emissions and to raise emissions standards. Deadlines for meeting these standards must be set, Li stressed.

Just when the draft might become finalized remains unclear, however. Comments from crucial industry bodies such as China’s Iron and Steel Association were to be submitted by May 14, which doubtless will result in further reviews and adjustments before the plan is finalized. The ministry did not provide a definite date for its plan’s publication.

Written by Olivia Zhang, zhangwd@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com