The implementation of ultra-low emissions is a necessary measure for the green development of the steel industry

"I have memorized the three golden words of secretary he wenbo.First, we are concerned not only about excess steel capacity, but also whether there is enough clean capacity.Second, social incentive mechanism must guide enterprises with advanced environmental protection level;Three is to win the blue sky battle, who is the hero."July 13, 2019 (10th) China steel energy conservation and emission reduction BBS held in Beijing.Liu bingjiang, director of the atmospheric environment department of the ministry of ecology and environment, made the remarks after he wenbo, party secretary and executive vice President of the China iron and steel association, made a speech.

He wenbo pointed out, "since this year, with the growth of demand, China's steel production at the same time with a relatively large increase, has become a more negative topic often discussed inside and outside the industry, as well as at home and abroad, affecting public perception and the formulation of public policy."

He Shared his two views with the attendees: first, steel production is not determined by steel producers in nature, but by market demand;Second, the utilization rate of steel capacity is an economic issue, while the actual emission level is an environmental and ecological issue.

The overall performance of China's steel industry in the national economic system is beyond reproach

For "the discretion of the steel production is not essentially determined by iron and steel producers, but is determined by market demand" point of view, wen-bo he thought, "the first five months of this year, China's steel industry crude steel production increased by 10.2%, caused the attention of the whole society, the steel industry itself also appears very nervous, don't know since when, iron and steel enterprises in order to meet the demand of national economy system of production and construction and to increase production, has become a very embarrassed things."

Statistics show that in the first five months of this year, China's steel output increased by 37.44 million tons, 98% of which was used to meet the domestic steel consumption demand, 2/3 of which was to meet the construction demand.

"The current reality is that the continuous input of capital construction in China has brought the continuous growth of steel demand, and the steel industry in China has met the requirements of the supply of steel materials for the production and construction of the national economy.In other words, without high growth in steel production, the current infrastructure scale cannot be achieved unless there is a substantial increase in steel imports.In this sense, the overall performance of China's steel industry in the national economic system so far is beyond reproach.He said.

"At present, the problem is not no, but what needs to be concerned is not the amount and proportion of total production increase, but the structure of production increase," he said.

In the first five months of this year, the growth rate of China's steel production was 10.2%, but the growth rate of steel association member enterprises, which accounted for nearly 80% of China's total steel production, was 6.2%, while that of non-member enterprises was 23%. These enterprises accounted for 54% of the total increase in production."The cleanliness of this part of the growth is worth investigating because it involves issues of fair government regulation and how the industry should regulate itself."He wenbo thinks.

"What we are concerned about is not just whether there is excess capacity, but whether there is enough clean capacity."He stressed that given the demand for steel, the right way to reduce the environmental impact is to give full play to manufacturers that have achieved ultra-low emission standards while limiting production capacity with high emissions.

The incentive mechanism must be directed to those enterprises with advanced environmental protection level

As for the view that "the utilization rate of steel capacity is an economic issue, while the actual emission level is an environmental and ecological issue", he wenbo pointed out, "in the current period, China's steel capacity can stop, stop no emissions, as long as there is a demand for production, production as much as the demand.However, who is producing is not only a problem that can be solved by the market, but directly related to the fair supervision of the government. Therefore, the incentive mechanism of the society must be directed to those enterprises with advanced environmental protection level.In the long run, I believe that market forces will solve the problem of matching production capacity with demand, which is the so-called overcapacity problem. The surplus capacity will eventually be eliminated by the market."

He wenbo said the implementation of ultra-low emissions is a necessary measure for the green development of the steel industry, and phased production limits in some areas are also a necessary protective measure at the current stage of development.In the process of forced production limits, it is crucial to implement "differentiated management" for enterprises with different levels of environmental protection. The regulatory mechanism must encourage innovators and protect advanced productivity.

"The steel industry is the main battleground for blue sky protection.""It is easy to win the blue sky battle and order production limits," he added. "but it is not necessarily understood by the whole society that clean production requires investment, creation, perseverance and even humiliation."

He wenbo pointed out that some steel enterprises with large investment in environmental protection reported that in order to achieve ultra-low emissions, the operating cost of environmental protection has reached 260 yuan to 270 yuan per ton.At that level, the environmental cost of producing 900 million to 1 billion tons of steel a year would be close to the GDP of a province in western China.

"Engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs who continue to invest in green production and ultra-low emissions, and who continue to create, actively develop and apply new environmental technologies, processes and equipment should be widely respected by society," he said.While enjoying the social wealth created by steel, the whole society should thank them for their contributions."