China News Agency, Beijing, April 24th: China's steel industry carbon neutrality is not blindly reducing production

　　China News Agency reporter Pang Wuji

　　China is the world's largest steel producer and consumer.

The steel industry is also China's largest carbon-emitting industry after electricity.

As an important support for the national economy, carbon peaking and carbon neutralization in China's steel industry is not destined to be a simple process.

　　A number of experts said at the "2022 (13th) China Iron and Steel Development Forum" held recently that carbon peaking and carbon neutralization in the iron and steel industry is a complex and huge systematic project, and three major misunderstandings need to be eliminated.

　　First, high-quality development does not mean no development.

　　Yang Weimin, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Economic Committee, said here that carbon reduction in the steel industry should not only start from the industry itself, but should start from the overall situation of the national economy, and we must grasp the balance of multiple goals.

　　He pointed out that there is a hierarchical relationship between the different goals.

For example, sharing, green, and openness belong to the way of development, and the foothold still needs to be developed.

Carbon reduction is a major change in development concepts, development ideas, and development methods. It must be built on the basis of development, and productivity cannot be weakened by carbon reduction.

　　Li Xinchuang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chief Engineer of the Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, also said that for the steel industry, reduction, low-carbon, and green development does not mean no development, nor does it mean that a large number of steel plants are shut down or production is reduced in a short period of time.

　　China has been the world's largest steel producer for 26 consecutive years.

Li Xinchuang said that the iron and steel industry is also one of the most globally competitive industries in China, and one cannot "sabotage one's martial arts."

　　Chen Kelong, director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, also pointed out that in the process of promoting high-quality development, the steel industry first needs to firmly grasp the core mission of the industry.

He pointed out that the core mission of the development of the steel industry is to provide high-quality and high-end steel products and services, and to maintain the stable and efficient operation of the industrial chain and supply chain.

If there is a problem with the supply of steel, the national economy and people's livelihood, national defense, military industry, science and technology and other fields will be greatly affected.

　　Therefore, he pointed out that it is necessary to properly handle the relationship between production capacity control, production control and stable supply growth, and to unswervingly consolidate the results of reducing production capacity while ensuring effective supply and satisfying effective demand.

　　Second, the demand has not fallen, and production cannot be reduced first.

　　Yang Weimin said that between production and consumption, it is necessary to reduce consumption first, and then reduce production, otherwise it will lead to an increase in steel prices, which will impact many downstream industries including construction, automobiles, machinery, and home appliances.

　　Because the national economy is a complex and interrelated system, he explained, changes in each variable will have an impact on the overall national economic balance.

　　He Wenbo, Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Iron and Steel Association, pointed out that for the realization of the "dual carbon" goal of the steel industry, there must be a rational, objective and clear understanding.

The realization of carbon neutrality in China's iron and steel industry is a systematic project, which needs to be carried out in a reasonable and orderly manner in accordance with the objective needs of the national economy at different stages and the iron and steel industry's own development, comprehensive technical development, and scientific overall planning.

　　The industry expects that in the medium and long term, China's steel consumption will remain at a relatively high level.

Li Xinchuang pointed out that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's steel production and consumption will generally remain at a high level of 1 billion tons.

　　Third, we cannot rely solely on a certain technology or process.

　　As a systematic project, the low-carbon development of the iron and steel industry cannot simply rely on a certain technology or replace long-term processes with short-process processes one after another.

　　Some people believe that hydrogen reduction may lead to a new technological revolution in the process and realize the low-carbon transformation of the steel industry.

However, Yin Ruiyu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former deputy minister of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry, admitted that assuming that hydrogen metallurgy accounts for 8% in 2040 and 25% in 2060, according to the model calculation, its contribution rate to decarbonization of the industry is only 9%. .

　　Looking at the model, in addition to hydrogen metallurgy, Yin Ruiyu said that the decline in crude steel production in the next 40 years will contribute the highest to decarburization, reaching 45%, and the scrap utilization factor (among which, the whole scrap electric furnace process factor accounts for about 35%) to reach 39%. %, and the contribution rate of energy saving, interface technology, and intelligence is 7%.

The low-carbon transformation of the steel industry cannot rely solely on the development of electric furnace processes.

(Finish)