China releases specific targets for steel industry by 2025

The guidelines are in consideration of the few development plans finalized by the country's central government for the steel industry until 2035 and among the specific targets are that 80% of the country's steel capacity needs to complete the rectification for ultra-low emission, their energy consumption per tonne of steelmaking needs to be down by at least 2% and water consumption to be reduced by at least 10%, all by 2025 so as to fulfil the carbon emission peak before 2030.

Besides, China's steel industry is requested to consume at least 300 million tonnes of scrap in steel output annually, and in parallel, electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steelmakers need to contribute to at least 15% of the country's total steel output, both by 2025.

No new steel capacities will be added, no approval will be granted in the name of casting, ferroalloys or machinery manufacturing and processing, reincarnation of scrapped steel capacities should be prevented, and all the old-for-new steel capacity swaps need to abide by related laws and regulations.

In the next few years, China will further optimize the locations of steel capacities nationwide with definitely no relocation of steel capacities to the jurisdictions that have failed to meet their steel capacity curtailing targets, and steel capacities in the urban areas should prioritize ultra-low emission rectification and upgrading to sharpen their competitiveness with those that are unable to meet related industrial standards or lack competitiveness to be shut down.

Besides, China will develop one or two leading steel mills in the sectors of stainless steel, specialty steel, seamless pipes, and ductile pipes nationwide as well as supporting mergers and acquisitions (M&As) across regions and across ownerships in the steel industry, and independent rolling mills and coking plants in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and neighbouring areas can participate in the M&As too.

Beijing also calls for orderly add-ons of EAF steel capacities in some urban areas on the condition of meeting all the related eco-friendly, power-saving, and technological requirements as well as being geographically near to steel scrap supplies.

In the joint release, the three ministries clearly spell out their support for imports of pig iron, direct reduced iron, steel scrap, and semi-finished steel in the coming years.

By 2025, a dynamic balance should be achieved in the country's steel demand and supply and domestic steel mills should be support to enhance their capability of producing high-end products via the means of investment in research and development and cooperation with related upstream and downstream enterprises.

Other than these, the ministries call for automation and intelligence in steelmaking, requesting digital control to be applied in 80% of the crucial processes in steelmaking and in the 55% of the production facilities, and the country will build 30 intelligent steel plants nationwide by 2025.

As for raw material supplies, the three ministries call for higher self-sufficiency and a stable and multi-dimensional supply system via investments in domestic and overseas resources, setting up domestic reserves, and using portside iron ore inventories to cushion against supply constraints by further expanding blending capacities at the Chinese ports.

Besides, Beijing will also intensify its surveillance on iron ore futures market and strives to develop a reasonable iron ore pricing mechanism

Written by Hongmei Li, li.hongmei@mysteel.com