Xiequ Beauty of Sinosteel: Major Difficulties and Problems in the Development of China's Steel Industry
发布时间:[2019-10-13 14:51:34] 浏览量:1641次
From January to August this year, against the backdrop of China's economic stability and good performance, the Chinese steel industry showed a good performance. However, external uncertainties have brought some downward pressure on the development of the industry. At the 2019(9th) Asian Iron and Steel Forum in Shanghai, Quxiuli, vice president of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said the Chinese steel market is generally in a weak equilibrium.
China's steel production, driven by domestic demand, continued to grow at a high rate in the first eight months, with steel, iron and timber production growing 9.1 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, year-on-year. Over the same period, Chinese steel prices fell 5.3 per cent year-on-year. "The supply and demand side of the Chinese steel market is still in a weak equilibrium, and the market's expectation of the contradiction between supply and demand has been strengthened with high output. Mr Quxiuli said corporate profits in the first seven months were on a downward trend based on monitoring by members of the steel Association.
In terms of imports and exports, Chinese steel exports have fallen for the fourth consecutive year. In the first eight months of this year, China's steel exports were 44.974 million tons, down 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, and steel imports were down 12.8 per cent from a year earlier. Quxiuli believes that this year's decline in steel exports is related to the international economic downturn and the increase in domestic demand in China. 2019 is the fourth year of China's supply-side reform. From 2016 to 2018, the domestic steel market is in a state of relatively tight balance between supply and demand, and the price operation is mainly driven by changes in the supply side of steel. With the deepening of supply-side reforms, the profits of the industrial chain will be redistributed in 2019, and the steel price will fluctuate in a narrow range, and corporate profits will return.
Experts believe that from 2019 to 2020, China's steel industry will face the peak of optimization and restructuring, and the supply of high-quality production capacity will expand. Supply-side reforms will force inefficient production capacity to clear, and the debt ratio of steel companies will gradually decline. The Chinese steel industry will go to the stage of high-quality green development.
Quxiuli said that at present, the development of China's steel industry is mainly faced with three difficulties and problems: First, the Environmental Protection requirements are becoming more and more stringent, and the cost pressure of enterprises is greater; Second, international trade protection has increased, global economic growth has slowed, and external demand is insufficient. Third, the price of raw materials rose, business profit space narrowed.
Looking ahead to the steel market, experts believe that China's infrastructure investment will gradually improve in the second half of this year to support steel demand. The supply and demand of steel will shift from tight balance to relatively loose supply, export demand will be flat, and the whole society's inventory will enter the stage of accumulation. At the same time, the cost of steel has moved down one step, and it will be shaken in the future or under the current stage. In the second half of the year, the profits of steel producers will return, and regional differences may be obvious.
"As one of the pillar industries of the national economy, steel still has many opportunities. We hope that relevant parties will strengthen exchanges and cooperation and jointly promote the sustained and healthy development of the industry. " Mr Quxiuli said the next step would be to deepen supply-side structural reforms and promote industrial restructuring; Improving quality and services to meet higher requirements in downstream markets; We will adhere to the concept of low-carbon green development and achieve integration and coexistence. We will optimize the allocation of resources and enhance our ability to operate sustainably.
