China's Steel Industry

China's steel industry has grown rapidly in recent decades, with China now the world's largest producer and consumer of steel. This has resulted in a sharp increase in demand for iron ore and coal, Australia's two largest exports, which are key inputs for the steelmaking process. This article discusses the growth of the Chinese steel industry over the past couple of decades.China; steel industry; Chinese steel industry; iron ore; coking coal

Competitive pressure and labor productivity: world iron ore markets in the 1980s

Does the extent of competitive pressure industries face influence their productivity? We study a natural experiment conducted in the iron ore industry as a result of the collapse in world steel production in the early 1980s. For iron ore producers, whose only market is the steel industry, this collapse was an exogenous shock. The drop in steel production differed dramatically by region: it fell by about a third in the Atlantic Basin but only very little in the Pacific Basin. Given that the cost of transporting iron ore is very high relative to its mine value, Atlantic iron ore producers faced a much greater increase in competitive pressure than did Pacific iron ore producers. In response to the crisis, most Atlantic iron ore producers doubled their labor productivity; Pacific iron ore producers experienced few productivity gains. ; This article originally appeared in the American Economic Review. (c) American Economic Association.Labor productivity ; Steel industry and trade

The iron and steel industry in Zimbabwe and regional cooperation in the SADCC context

This paper looks at the Zimbabwean iron and steel industry with the aim of answering the following questions: • Why the economy is highly dependent on impor ted steel when there is a large iron and steel plant; • Why the iron and steel industry in Zimbabwe is an export enclave industry; • Why there has been little or no progress in the development of a capital goods sector in Zimbabwe despite the existence of an iron and steel industry since 1948. The paper aims at coming up with policy prescriptions as to how the iron and steel industry can best be utilised to benefit the Zimbabwe an economy more. The paper is ma de up of a literature review of how the iron and steel industry can affect the economic growth of other sectors, a historical review of the development of the Zimbabwean iron and steel industry, a look at the current availability of the raw materials used in the product ion of iron and steel products, a brief discussion on production, shipment and trade in iron and steel, and the role played by Government, and finally a summary and conclusion

Highly efficient CO2 capture with simultaneous iron and CaO recycling for the iron and steel industry

An efficient CO2 capture process has been developed by integrating calcium looping (CaL) and waste recycling technologies into iron and steel production. A key advantage of such a process is that CO2 capture is accompanied by simultaneous iron and CaO recycling from waste steel slag. High-purity CaO-based CO2 sorbents, with CaO content as high as 90 wt%, were prepared easily via acid extraction of steel slag using acetic acid. The steel slag-derived CO2 sorbents exhibited better CO2 reactivity and slower (linear) deactivation than commercial CaO during calcium looping cycles. Importantly, the recycling efficiency of iron from steel slag with an acid extraction is improved significantly due to a simultaneous increase in the recovery of iron-rich materials and the iron content of the materials recovered. High-quality iron ore with iron content of 55.1–70.6% has been recovered from waste slag in this study. Although costing nearly six times as much as naturally derived CaO in the purchase of feedstock, the final cost of the steel slag-derived, CaO-based sorbent developed is compensated by the byproducts recovered, i.e., high-purity CaO, high-quality iron ore, and acetone. This could reduce the cost of the steel slag-derived CO2 sorbent to 57.7 € t−1, appreciably lower than that of the naturally derived CaO. The proposed integrated CO2 capture process using steel slag-derived, CaO-based CO2 sorbents developed appears to be cost-effective and promising for CO2 abatement from the iron and steel industry

The Optimal Technological Development Path to Reduce Pollution and Restructure Iron and Steel Industry for Sustainable Transition

China is the world’s largest iron and steel producer and Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) region accounts for nearly 1/3 of the national iron and steel production, while it is facing serious air pollution. Among the top 10 worst polluted cities in China, seven were located in Hebei province in 2014. Recent years Jing-Jin-Ji region has been promoted iron & steel industry with green clean technology for accelerating sustainable economic transition. This paper tries to response the basic questions: How can we reduce pollution and restructure the iron and steel industry for sustainable economic transition in Jing-Jin-Ji? How can the iron-steel industry achieve its 13th five year plan targets? How does its outlook look like in the next 10 years? For the analysis, we develop a dynamic optimization model to explore the optimal technological development path of iron and steel industry under the environment (CO2, SO2, NOx, and PM2.5) in combing with overcapacity reduction targets over the next 10 years. The results show that increasing capacity of scrap-EAF and DRI-EAF technologies can significantly co-decrease CO2, SO2, NOx and PM2.5 by 50%, 60%, 57%, and 62% respectively. The optimal technological portfolio indicates that the production share of EAF technology will increase with the potential increase trends of scrap volumes. The paper indicates that in China, iron and steel production shift from BOF to EAF technology is an optimal way for lower energy/CO2 and air pollutants emissions, and for iron and steel industry transition to green and sustainable development. The paper argues that reducing iron and steel production volume does not mean stopping iron and steel industry development, but low-carbon and green development in the iron & steel industry, it can achieve the goal for sustainable transition in the region

Technical Efficiency in the Iron and Steel Industry: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

In this paper we examine the technical efficiency of firms in the iron and steel industry and try to identify the factors contributing to the industry's efficiency growth, using a time-varying stochastic frontier model. Based on our findings, which pertain to 52 iron and steel firms over the period of 1978-1997, POSCO and Nippon Steel were the most efficient firms, with their production, on average, exceeding 95 percent of their potential output. Our findings also shed light on possible sources of efficiency growth in the industry. If a firm is government-owned, its privatization is likely to improve its technical efficiency to a great extent. A firm's technical efficiency also tends to be positively related to its production level as measured by a share of the total world production of crude steel. Another important source of efficiency growth identified by our empirical findings is adoption of new technologies and equipment. Our findings clearly indicate that continued efforts to update technologies and equipment are critical in pursuit of efficiency in the iron and steel industry.

Inter-fuel Substitution in the Chinese Iron and Steel Sector

China’s iron and steel sector is the largest in the world and has been the backbone of Chinese heavy industry. This sector is also a major consumer of energy and, in particular, coal. As a result, the iron and steel sector in China is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. In this paper we examine the potential for inter-fuel substitution between coal, electricity, natural gas and oil in the Chinese iron and steel sector and find that these energy inputs are substitutes. The finding that these alternative energy sources are substitutes for coal suggests that China has the potential to switch from coal to cleaner energy sources; hence, retaining the ability to fuel its iron and steel sector, while reducing the adverse environmental implications.China, inter-fuel substitution, iron and steel

The Belgian Iron and Steel Industry in the International Context

This paper provides a survey of the main developments in the iron and steel industry over the last few decades. The first chapter covers the changing conditions on international markets and identifies the main challenges facing the companies in this sector. These include the boom in China, the increasing prices of steel and raw materials, the wave of mergers and acquisitions as well as the implementation of environmental regulations, in particular the Kyoto Protocol. Against the backdrop of the worsening global economic crisis, market conditions for steel are also set to change markedly, at least in the medium term. The second chapter provides an assessment of the Belgian iron and steel sector's economic impact, in terms of direct value added, employment and investment. The chapter also includes an evaluation of the indirect effects of the sector, both upstream and downstreambranch survey, iron and steel industry, market structure, indirect effects

The modern technology of iron and steel production and possible ways of their development

В изменяющейся мировой обстановке на рынке сырых материалов для черной металлургии разрабатывается ряд новых технологий по производству чугуна и стали, альтернативных существующим технологиям, которые способны обеспечить экономически устойчивую работу металлургических компаний. В дополнении к этому фокусируется внимание на экономии энергии и снижении выбросов парниковых газов в целях решения важнейших вопросов охраны окружающей среды. Изменение состояния окружающей среды ставит новые проблемы перед металлургической промышленностью, потребляющей значительные энергетические и топливные ресурсы. Отрасль вынуждена сосредоточить свое внимание на сокращении всех видов энергии, что приведет и к снижению выброса парниковых газов. Разработка альтернативных технологических процессов производства чугуна и стали способна обеспечить металлургическим компаниям экономически выгодную и устойчивую работу в производстве стали. Для оценки воздействий деятельности металлургических компаний на окружающую среду Инженерно-консалтинговой компанией ХАТЧ (НАТСH, Сanada) были разработаны новые методики моделирования, позволяющие квалифицированно и качественно оценивать риски в потреблении энергии и выбросах СО2 в металлургической промышленности. Методика для анализа выбросов углеродсодержащих парниковых газов названа G-CAP ™ (Зеленый Дом — Борьба с загрязнением воздуха углекислым газом), а для анализа энергоэффективности — En-MAPTM (Планирование действий при управлении энергией). Оценка существующего положения в большинстве интегрированных заводов показала, что они располагают возможностями по экономии энергии и борьбы с загрязнением атмосферы парниковыми газами, лучшие из этих заводов исчерпали эти возможности даже при высоких ценах на квоты выбросов СО2. В этом контексте важно оценить те важные особенности альтернативных технологий получения чугуна и стали, которые разработаны к настоящему времени. Эта статья содержит сравнительную оценку энергоэффективности и выбросов ПГ для некоторых выбранных альтернативных технологий производства чугуна и стали, которые рассматриваются для их реализации. Для этого применены методики G-CAP ™ и G-CAP ™ , элементы которых были разработаны в компании HATCH с основной целью количественной и квалификационной оценки потенциала экономии энергии и сокращения выбросов СО2 в металлургической промышленностиIn the changing global market scenario for raw materials for the steel industry, a number of novel iron and steelmaking process technologies are being developed to provide the steel companies with economically-sustainable alternatives for iron and steel-making. In addition, the steel industry is also focusing on reduction of energy consumption as well as green-house gas (GHG) emissions to address the crucial subject of climate change. Climate change is presenting new risks to the highly energy and carbon-intensive, iron and steel industry. The industry needs to focus on reduction of energy consumption as GHG emissions to address climate change. Development of alternate iron and steelmaking process technologies can provide steel companies with economically-sustainable alternatives for steel production. For managing climate change risks, novel modelling tools have been developed by Hatch to quantify and qualify potential energy savings and CO2 abatement within the iron and steel industry. The tool developed for abatement of greenhouse gas carbon is called G-CAPTM (Green-House Gas Carbon Abatement Process) while that developed for improving energy efficiency is called En-MAPTM (Energy Management Action Planning). Evaluation of existing operations have shown that most integrated plants have GHG and energy abatement opportunities; on the other hand, the best-in-class plants may not have a lot of low-risk abatement opportunities left, even at high CO2 price. In this context, it is important to assess these critical issues for the alternate iron and steelmaking technologies that have been developed. This paper presents a comparative evaluation of energy-efficiency and GHG emissions for some selected iron- and steelmaking technologies that are being considered for implementation. In this work, Hatch’s G-CAP™ and En-MAP™ tools that were developed with the main objective of quantifying and qualifying the potential energy savings and CO2 abatement within the iron and steel industry, were employed in the evaluation conducted

ANALYSIS OF THE PROCESS OF IRON SAND PROCESSING INTO SPONGE IRON IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY OF STEEL RAW MATERIALS

The number of iron sand reserves is mostly spread in the coastal waters of Indonesia, from the coast of Sumatra, the southern of Java to Bali, the beaches of Sulawesi, beaches in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and the northern coast of Papua. Total reserves for ore are 173,810,612 tons and metal as much as 25,412,652.62 tons. But its utilization was not optimal because PT. Krakatau Steel, and PT. Krakatau Posco has produced steel plates only 24,000 to 36,000 tons per year. While the need for steel plates for the shipping industry each year requires 900,000 tons per year. With the need for raw material for steel plates in the form of iron sponges with Fe ≥ 60%, PT. Krakatau Steel is still imported from abroad. The proof is PT. Krakatau Steel before and during the year 2000 still imported Iron Ore Pellets from the countries of Sweden, Chille and Brazil for 3,500,000 tons per year. This condition is the cause of the national steel industry unable to compete with the foreign steel industry because imported raw materials are subject to import duties. This is an opportunity to build a steel raw material company because all this time the steel raw material industry in Indonesia has only two companies. This condition encourages the manufacture of iron sponges, with the process of making iron sponges with technology adapted to installed production capacity. This study analysed the manufacture of iron sponges using Cipatujah iron sand, as raw material for the manufacture of iron sponges, with the results obtained in the form of iron sponges with the highest levels of Fe ≥60.44%. This can be used for the purposes of raw materials for steel making PT. Krakatau Steel (PT. KS), because so far PT. KS claims that Fe <60% local sponge iron products. This can encourage the independence of steel raw materials, which impacts on the independence of the defence industry. But the government must also protect and prioritize steel raw materials for national production for national steel production. With the national government steel industry, the consortium of vendors supplying raw material (iron sponge) to maintain the quality and supply of continuous sponge iron.Keywords: iron sand, iron pellet, iron spong