Extracted from: world metal monitor 8 november 2022
Steel refining methods are used around the world, mainly in the form of transformer steel and electric steel. As world steel production develops, the accumulation of waste steel is increasing and the share of electric steel is increasing. At present, electric furnace steel accounts for about 30 per cent of world steel production, and some developed countries have reached more than 50 per cent, in particular through the establishment of short-process processes for electric furnaces, which are characterized by a chain of casting and rolling, resulting in significant progress in the level of steel production。
1. Analysis of the environment and current status of electrical steel development in china
1. 1 typical experience in developing electric furnace steel abroad
The pattern of development of the steel sector in the typical countries (regions) of the world indicates that, as industrialization progresses, waste steel resources accumulate, and the development of short-flow electric furnaces is a necessary trend. In countries (regions) where industrialization has been completed and crude steel production has exceeded 100 million tons, such as the united states, the european union and japan, the short process of electric furnaces has begun to take place in the middle of the peak of crude steel production. From the experience of steel development in developed countries (regions) such as the united states, the european union and japan, it took 25-30 years or more to increase the share of steel production from 10 per cent to 30 per cent, which was accompanied by constant fluctuations and adjustments, while 20 to 40 per cent was a resistance area for the rise in the share of steel。
Steel production in the united states began around 1965, when the production of electric furnaces was 1. 96 million tons, or 9. 19 per cent. In recent decades, the annual production of rough steel in the united states has stabilized at 100 million tons, the accumulation of scrap steel is close to 700 million tons, the production of waste steel and its use have reached a virtuous cycle, and the ratio of electric steel to electric steel has continued to increase。
1. 2 current status of electric steel development in the country
1. 2. 1 production aspects
In 2021, our crude steel production was 1,033 million tons, a decrease of 3 per cent over the same period, of which 120 million tons, or 11. 6 per cent, were produced. As our steel industry has long been ahead of efficiency and size, the structure of the steel process has been dominated by long processes, with china's electric furnaces now hovering around 10 per cent, and the gap remains significant compared to the world average. In the “1335” period, as china's efforts to defuse excess capacity in steel continued, especially after the “earth steel” was banned by law, the short process of steel refining, where waste steel was the main source, was developing more rapidly, and the production of electric steel was on the rise。
1. 2. 2 productive aspects
As of the end of 2019, the country had nearly 150 electric furnaces and nearly 100 million tons of capacity. At the same time, there has been a breakthrough in the massization of equipment, with a significant increase in the number of 100 tons of electric stoves, with 100 tons and above accounting for 22 per cent of the total number of electric furnaces and 39. 0 per cent of the total capacity of electric furnaces for steel; 75 tons to 99 tons and 19 per cent of the total number of electric furnaces。
As our waste steel resources are not yet sufficient to support the rapid development of short processes in electric furnaces, there has been a “disconnected” phenomenon in the social supply of waste steel, with the temperature of the newly built furnace gradually cooling after 2018, with the number of proposed new furnaces falling by 66 per cent and 72 per cent, respectively, in 2018 and 2019. During the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia outbreak, independent electric furnaces were almost entirely out of production, and today their capacity utilization is only about 70 per cent。
Overall, however, the share of electricity production capacity is increasing. Under the iron and steel replacement programme announced since 2017, 2,53. 31 million tons, or 77. 7 per cent, of new conversion capacity have been built, and 72. 59 million tons, or 22. 3 per cent, have been built, which is higher than the current rate of about 10 per cent of the nation's total。
1. 2. 3 smelting equipment profile
In the near future, domestic electric furnaces have been replaced, newly built and upgraded at an accelerated rate, with new electric furnaces equipped with continuous heating and waste steel preheaters, with significant efficiency gains. Some iron and steel enterprises have been active in the introduction of world-class state-of-the-art electric stoves, such as quantum eaf and ecostatic. The cisdi-green eaf, which was developed on its own initiative, has also been industrialized. In addition, new technologies such as waste steel preheaters, secondary combustion, enhanced aerobic smelting, new electric arc furnaces have been widely used, and equipment has been improved and innovative, with production efficiency, energy efficiency reduction, cost control, automation levels, etc. Well above normal electric furnaces。
1. 2. 4 changes in product structure of furnace steel
Because of the large amounts of alloy that can be melted by electric furnaces and the relatively flexible organization in which they are produced, production costs are high; and because of the characteristics of special steel products, such as the high alloy content, variety, small batches and high value added, the country's early use of electric furnaces for special steel smelting has served the purpose of increasing the distance。
However, the quality of our scrap steel is mixed, and the steel industry is dominated by a strategic vision of scale and low-cost development, and the phenomenon of “unpriced quality” of ette steel is more pronounced, and we are now increasingly turning to the production of ordinary steel in our electric furnaces。
2 new conceptualization for new steel development bureau
2. 1 fully exploit the guiding role of the guidance for the promotion of quality development in the iron and steel industry for the development of electric furnaces
By 2025, the iron and steel industry will essentially be well-structured, technologically well-equipped, well-qualified, highly intelligent, globally competitive, green and low-carbon sustainable development。
The opinion notes that the promotion of high-quality and efficient use of spent steel resources leads to the orderly development of electric furnaces. Policies such as differentiated production capacity replacement, environmental management, etc. Are being implemented for the whole-of-life steel furnaces. (c) encourage high furnace-replaced long process enterprises that are qualified to adapt locally to develop short-process steel from electric furnaces. Small and medium-sized electric furnace steel enterprises located around urban centres and urban clusters that meet the requirements of environmental conservation and technical standards are encouraged to produce products adapted to the needs of regional markets and to co-opt municipal and surrounding waste. Actively develop new electrical stoves and speed up the improvement of steel-related standards systems. Promote the integrated development of waste steel recycling, dismantling, processing, classification and distribution, and further improve the construction of waste steel distribution systems. (b) encourage the construction of demonstration zones for the development of electric furnaces and steel in areas in a position to do so, and explore new equipment applications for new technologies. Eight or so preponderant steel furnaces and scrap steel distribution enterprises were selected to form a replicable industry model。
2. 2 challenges to electric steel development in the country
2. 2. 1 short process steel development in electric furnaces has not yet resulted in cost advantages
Our waste steel supply is far from being sufficiently low and the country's overall electricity price is high, making it more difficult to control the cost of steel in electric furnaces. For a long time, the furnace-transformation process has been economically advantageous in most areas. By october 2020, less than 70 per cent of the construction of new electric furnaces and steel companies had started, most of them struggling near the cost line; nearly 60 per cent of steel plants were cost-neutral or in deficit, and only 40 per cent were profitable。
2. 2. 2 longer smelting cycles
In 2019, the average smelting cycle for steel enterprises was 58 minutes, with some enterprises having reached more than 120 minutes, which is significantly longer than the average smelting cycle of 32 minutes for conversion。
2. 2. 3 disparities in equipment highlighted
With regard to electrical stoves, our country has the capacity to develop the entire electrical stoves on its own, but the technological level of national electric arc furnaces is still very different from that of foreign countries in terms of green energy conservation, automation, intellectualization, production services and associated testing, robotic technology. Market penetration is much lower than that of foreign companies such as prith and danelli, and advanced electric stoves still need to be imported。
2. 3 carbon peak targets and carbon neutrality vision
2. 3. 1 summary of carbon emissions from the steel industry
The steel industry, which is a key sector in carbon emissions, has the highest carbon emissions in 31 manufacturing industries, accounting for 18 per cent of our total carbon emissions. Thus, the steel industry is one of the first eight priority emitters to be integrated into the national integrated carbon market. There is a long way to go for a low-carbon transformation due to the high carbonization of energy structures, inadequate technological support, high cost of emission reductions, weak basic capacity。
2. 3. 2 challenges to carbon emissions control
Global carbon emissions amounted to 2. 6 billion tons in 2019, with a carbon intensity of about 1. 4 tco2/t steel, and our steel industry accounted for more than 60 per cent of global steel carbon emissions. In 2020, steel carbon emissions were about 1. 9 tco2/t steel, with total carbon emissions of about 2 billion tons. Total carbon emissions from closely related industries such as iron and steel production + coke and lime were 2. 1 billion tons。
2. 3. 3 carbon peaking target and focus area ranges
The steel sector is expected to achieve a peak in carbon emissions by 2025 and a 30 per cent reduction in carbon emissions from 2020 by 2030。
Areas of focus for achieving carbon peaks include:
2. 4 plan of action for short processed steel propulsion for electric furnaces
By 2030, our country will have achieved a carbon reduction of 420 million tons, of which the promotion of a steel-fired furnace programme could reduce carbon by about 156 million tons, in combination with the policy orientation of high-quality steel development, challenges to the development of electric furnaces and the vision of a “carbon-to-carbon neutralization” in the steel industry. Sequenced short-process electric furnaces are necessary to make steel at the right time。
2. 4. 1 orderly guided furnaces with short flow processes for steel
Encourage the active transfer of production capacity in areas with environmental capacity, market demand, waste steel security and relatively low steel capacity; encourage the deployment of small and medium-sized short-flow furnace steel plants in urban and inland areas; encourage the transformation of high-to-high-to-long process enterprises into short-to-process electric furnaces; and allow all short-to-process furnace steel companies to fully meet the very low-emission requirements and fully utilize the passivation and reresourceization functions of large-scale social waste。
2. 4. 2 sound safeguards support systems
Support for the establishment of large waste steel recycling and distribution enterprises, such as steel companies, the selection of niche poles in waste steel distribution enterprises, the development of replicable industry models, the encouragement of waste steel processing enterprises to strengthen innovative research and the construction of standardized systems; the promotion of short-flow electric furnace steel standards, standardisation and promotion, the selection of niche poles in short-process steel furnaces, and the certification of classification of steel products in electric furnaces; and the improvement of preferential policies in such areas as taxation, electricity price subsidies and carbon trading quotas。
2. 4. 3 promotion of advanced technology
Promote the application of advanced process techniques such as new energy-efficient stoves, smelting, waste steel pre-heat, and further reduce raw materials and energy consumption, and improve energy conservation, environmental protection and carbon efficiency。
3 business opportunities based on existing jobs, taking into account the full text of the book and relevant policy messages
