China's Jiangsu Province to Enforce Output Curbs in Steel, Coke and Chemical Plants

In China, the General Office of the Provincial Party Committee and the General Office of the Provincial Government of Jiangsu officially issued the Notice of Implementation Proposal on the high-quality transformation and upgrading of the chemical, iron and steel, and coal power industries in the Province.

The Implementation Proposal clearly points out the specific requirements and supporting measures brought up for the reduction of production capacity and adjustment of layout for iron & steel and coking industries.

The main objectives are as under -

• Firstly, to reduce the production capacity of crude steel in accordance with energy conservation and environmental protection policy.
  • The total crude steel production capacity in the province will be controlled within 115 million tons, thereby achieving the capacity reduction target of 17.5 million tons during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period.
    
    
  • Further, the total amount of pollutants discharged will be reduced with the total emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter in the steel industry to be reduced by 30%, 50% and 50% respectively.
    
    
  
  
  
• Secondly, to accelerate the formation of a new pattern of coordinated development along the coasts of the Yangtze River and sea.
  • Strategic adjustment of the steel industry layout should be made through methods such as mergers and acquisitions, capacity replacement, etc. based on the development plan of the province's functional areas.
    
    
  • By 2020, two steel industry clusters along the coasts of the Yangtze River and sea will be formed initially.
    
    
  • The iron and steel industry clusters along the Yangtze River will be focused on structural adjustment and improvement while focus of the cluster along the sea coast is quality improvement, expansion and strengthened competitiveness, and establishment of certain flagship special steel companies.
    
    
  
  
  
• Thirdly, to implement the withdrawal or relocation of backward smelting capacity around the Taihu Lake, along the Yangtze River and along the canal.
  • By 2020, all smelting capacities within 10 km from Taihu Lake, blast furnaces of 600 cubic meters and below, and converters of 50 tons and below within 20 km from Taihu lake must be withdrawn or relocated.
    
    
  • Blast furnaces of 500 cubic meters and below and converter (electric furnaces) of 45 tons and below within 40 km must be upgraded according to national requirements before the end of 2020.
    
    
  
  
  
• Fourthly, Xuzhou city will shut down all independent iron-making companies before the end of 2018, and the number of steel mills will be reduced to less than 10.
  • Before 2020, the smelting capacity of Xuzhou city will be reduced by more than 30% compared with that of 2017 and one or two large-scale integrated iron & steel companies will be formed with advanced equipment, combined long and short processes and low energy consumption.
    
    
  
  
  
• Fifthly, to strictly control the coking capacity in the steel industry and to effectively strengthen the rectification work of the coking industry.
  • Before the end of 2018, all independent coking companies along Yanjiang River and surrounding the Taihu Lake area will be shut down, and all independent coking companies in other areas will be withdrawn before 2020.
    
    
  • Before the end of 2020, all steel mills with integrated coke plants will have their coke plants outsourced, except for the coastal areas -- two coke ovens of above 7-meter can be retained for steel mills with large blast furnace of more than 5000 cubic meters.
    
    
  • The existing 11 coking companies in the Xuzhou City will be either shut down, relocated, transformed and/or upgraded by the end of 2020, and integrated into 2~3 comprehensive coking companies, reducing 50% coking capacity.