Recently, the 10th China International Iron and Steel Conference was held in Beijing. Many world-class steel guests were invited to attend. The theme of this conference is the governance of the world's steel. The organizers hope that distinguished guests can share how their companies deal with global challenges in the steel industry. Reform and innovation initiatives, and contributions to the governance of the world's steel. Focusing on high quality development is also a major feature of this conference.

The current production mode of the steel industry is not sustainable

Edwin Basong, Director-General of the World Steel Association, first made a leading speech in the forum section entitled “The Common Prosperity and Sustainable Future of the Iron and Steel Industry”. Basong said that there is no sustainable steel industry, today’s society. It cannot survive. Steel is still a basic product. Global steel production will emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We must solve the problem of carbon dioxide emissions. We have made progress now and hope to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the steel industry in the future.

Bassong stressed that in the next two decades, our existing capacity will be able to meet the demand. In the future, we must improve the quality of products and improve the efficiency of steelmaking. If we can find ways to solve environmental problems, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, solve the challenges posed by the use of steel, and not excessively invest in new production capacity, we will certainly The long-term sustainable development of the steel industry.

At the meeting, Japan's JEF Steel Co., Ltd.'s president, Shiki Hiroki, stated that the steel industry is a relatively high-energy industry in terms of energy consumption in various industries in Japan. In 2015, it accounted for 13% of domestic energy consumption. Since the 1970s, Japan introduced the conservation law and all companies have adopted energy conservation measures. The Japanese steel industry took measures to cope with global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So far, Japan has invested nearly 500 billion yen in energy conservation and invested 700 billion yen in environmental protection. The result was a lot of benefits. Compared with 90 years, the output of crude steel increased by 19%, and the energy consumption decreased by 21%.

ArcelorMittal has always been the world’s largest steel company. Brian Bryan, executive vice president of ArcelorMittal, said the trends affecting the steel industry include demographic changes, urbanization, climate changes, etc. . These have driven social changes and policy changes. Iron and steel companies need to increase resource utilization through recycling and recycling. The standards for CO2 emissions in all countries are actually convergent and basically all go down.

"Now we have 1.7 billion tons of steel and a population of 7.3 billion. By 2050, our steel production may reach 2.5 billion tons and the population will be 9.7 billion. If the current production method is used, the steel industry is certainly not a Continuing industry.” Bryan said that many sustainable technologies can now be seen, including reducing the use of raw materials, slag can be used for railway construction, cement production, can be used as fertilizer, and used in water treatment industries. All of these are green applications. The steel industry has also done a very good job in reusing the steel. In terms of recycling, it is possible to reach 90% overall in 2050. Compared with other materials, the recovery rate of steel is very high. In reducing the carbon emissions of the steel industry, the government's goal is to reduce the carbon steel emissions to 40% to 50%. This requires the support of research and development and the need for new technologies.

High-quality development of steel will have far-reaching impact

In recent years, Chinese steel companies have actively responded to the government's supply-side structural reforms, especially in terms of capacity removal, and have made tremendous efforts and important contributions. While de-capacity, Chinese steel companies are continuing to deepen internal reforms. Accelerate the pace of structural adjustment, strive to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and improve the operational efficiency of the company. To a certain extent, China Iron & Steel has led the global steel industry's recovery and has made a positive contribution to global steel governance.

Chen Derong, general manager of China Baowu Group, said that the transition from high-speed development to high-quality development in China will inevitably have a profound impact on the industry. China’s huge steel industry is an important part of the Chinese economy. The level of development directly affects the quality of China’s economic development. The quality of China’s economic development also determines whether China’s steel can transform into a track of high quality development. The two are interdependent and mutually causal.

Chen Derong said that the Chinese steel industry already has the conditions for high quality development. First, the turning point of China's steel demand has emerged, which provides favorable conditions for the supply side to promote development. Second, China Steel has accumulated high-quality technical conditions and has become one of the few manufacturing industries in China that can occupy advanced industries in the world. We should say that we are standing in the forefront of the world in terms of equipment manufacturing, technology, and products. The supply-side structural reform has created the necessary external conditions for the high-quality development of the steel industry. The Chinese steel industry is the industry that has the greatest impact on China's economy from high-speed growth to high-quality development. With the joint efforts of all steel colleagues, the Chinese steel industry will be able to achieve high-quality development.

Yao Lin, general manager of Anshan Iron and Steel Group, said that the Chinese government has proposed that China's economy has entered a stage of high-quality development and put forward new requirements for the steel industry. At present, China's steel industry has entered the peak period of output peak oscillations following the rapid growth of China's economy, showing full competition and becoming a key area for supply-side structural reforms. We must actively adapt to the new requirements for high-quality development, vigorously promote structural adjustment, transformation and upgrading, promote upstream and downstream industry cooperation, and achieve more efficient and sustainable development.