Hebei Renovates Iron and Steel Industry, Saves Energy, Reduces Emissions and Smashes 18 Steel Enterprises

Following Shanxi, another major steel and steel field in China, Hebei started the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" energy-saving and emission reduction sprint starting from the renovation of the steel industry. On September 4, the steel company of Wu'an City, Hebei Province, received a notice that the blast furnace and rolling line of 18 steel mills in the area were required to be shut down before 00:00 on the 5th. The time limit for shutting down was tentatively set to 20 days to 1 month. It was also learned that in addition to the steel mills, some local coking companies and iron ore mining and mining enterprises were also required to stop production.

“The announcement was issued too suddenly. Now local companies have begun to suspend production.” An informed source revealed to the author that companies in Wu’an have started preparations for stopping production, including the largest private steel company in the region – Hebei. Puyang Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. will also enter the suspension period starting tomorrow. Although as early as early August there were rumors that the end of the year before the end of the "Eleventh Five-Year" goal of energy-saving emission reduction will be implemented for high-energy-consuming enterprises, but many local steel mills in Wuan did not think that the decree came so ferocious And resolutely, even some blast furnaces that are more than 1,000 cubic meters in line with national industrial policies have also been required to stop production. What makes them even more deplorable is that the hard-to-see steel sales season has been “yellowed” by such a notice of production restrictions.

According to industry sources, the drastic stoppage of power production in Wu'an City is likely to be related to a previous announcement in Hebei Province. According to the "Hebei Daily" report on September 1, Hebei Province's leading group for addressing climate change and energy-saving and emission reduction notified of the completion of energy-saving emission reduction targets in each city in the first half of the year, and it was relatively backward in terms of energy conservation and emission reduction in Chengde and Zhangjiakou. Langfang, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Tangshan, Hengshui and Cangzhou were given yellow card warnings. Wu'an, the county-level city governed by Handan City, is naturally burdened with more energy-saving and emission reduction tasks. It is understood that Wu'an is the most concentrated steel and steel town in Tangshan in China. As of the end of 2009, Wu'an District had a total steel production capacity of nearly 20 million tons.

It is worth noting that not all steel companies located in the area are among the cut-offs. Hebei Iron & Steel (000709) Group's Handan Iron and Steel Company has not been affected by this power cut and production suspension. According to an insider from Hebei Iron and Steel, currently the company has no production capacity affected by this power cut. The emerging cast pipe (000778) (000,778), as one of the few central enterprises in the steel industry, has not been affected by the suspension of production in the Wu’an region.

According to Xu Xiangchun, Mysteel's director of information, from the perspective of strong energy conservation and emission reduction measures in Wu'an, all levels of government have great determination to sprint the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” energy-saving and emission reduction targets, and Wu An’s iron fist practices may continue to be replicated. According to the author's understanding, the Tangshan City Development and Reform Commission also conducted a bottom-up investigation on the high-energy-consuming industries in the Tangshan region last weekend. Whether it will follow Wu'an's high energy consumption in the jurisdiction, especially the steel industry, needs to wait and see.