Since the beginning of this year, all regions and departments have adhered to the use of market-oriented and rule-of-law measures, strictly implemented environmental protection, quality, and safety regulations and standards, and achieved remarkable results in resolving excess production capacity and eliminating outdated production capacity. With the steady progress of capacity reduction and the accelerated withdrawal of backward production capacity, profound changes have taken place in the supply and demand structure of the steel and coal markets, and the quality and efficiency of the industry's operation have been significantly improved.

According to data recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of this year, with the continuous deepening of structural capacity reduction, the national industrial capacity utilization rate was 76.7, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the first quarter and an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the same period last year.

The increase in industrial capacity utilization is not only related to the stable operation of the macro economy, but also closely related to my country's continued promotion of supply-side structural reforms. As one of the five key tasks of supply-side structural reform, reducing production capacity is the key to achieving sustained and stable economic growth in my country. Since the beginning of this year, all regions and departments have adhered to the use of market-oriented and rule-of-law measures, strictly implemented environmental protection, quality, and safety regulations and standards, and achieved remarkable results in resolving excess production capacity and eliminating outdated production capacity.

Relevant experts said that with the steady progress of overcapacity reduction and the accelerated withdrawal of backward production capacity, profound changes have taken place in the supply and demand structure of the steel and coal markets, and the quality and efficiency of industry operations have improved significantly.

Promote the resolution of excess capacity

The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year clearly stated that around high-quality development, we must deepen supply-side structural reforms, vigorously eliminate ineffective supply, and treat "zombie companies" as an important starting point to promote the resolution of excess capacity.

According to the "Government Work Report" arrangement, in 2018, my country will reduce its steel production capacity by about 30 million tons, withdraw coal production capacity by about 150 million tons, and eliminate coal-fired power generating units below 300,000 kilowatts that do not meet the standards. Intensify the bankruptcy liquidation and reorganization of "zombie enterprises", and do a good job in employee placement and debt disposal.

In April of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments jointly issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Resolving Excessive Capacity in Key Fields in 2018", which made it clear that the upper limit of 150 million tons of crude steel production capacity reduction during the 13th Five-Year Plan will be basically completed. Objectives and tasks: to ensure that the coal capacity reduction goal of about 800 million tons is achieved in three years.

Yan Pengcheng, spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that since this year, in the coal field, relevant departments have supervised and guided various localities to systematically sort out the disposal of "zombie companies" since 2016, list them, formulate plans, conduct comprehensive inspections, and report the results. . At the same time, we accelerated the elimination of outdated production capacity and appropriately raised the coal mine production exit standards in the southern region. According to strict law enforcement, we will close one batch, implement capacity replacement and exit one batch, and upgrade a small number of batches through transformation and upgrading. Eliminate and exit.

In the iron and steel sector, relevant departments have promoted the implementation of annual production capacity reduction targets, confirmed the 2018 crude steel production capacity reduction plans reported by various localities, and through normalization of strict law enforcement and implementation of mandatory standards, it has promoted those who fail to meet standards and do not comply with industrial policies. Outdated production capacity will be withdrawn in accordance with laws and regulations to ensure the completion of annual targets and tasks. Strengthen and consolidate the results of de-capacity, always maintain the high-pressure situation of hitting the spot, strictly prohibit new production capacity, strictly prevent the resurgence of "floor steel" and the resumption of production that has resolved excess capacity, and strictly control the replacement of steel production capacity and project filing to prevent production capacity" Decrease and increase”.

The reporter learned that from the end of May to mid-June this year, relevant departments also jointly dispatched an inspection team to 21 provinces including Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Liaoning, to carry out the iron and steel industry to resolve excess production capacity and prevent "floor steel". Special spot checks on resurgence.

Significant improvement in industry benefits

With the solid progress of the elimination of excess capacity and the disposal of "zombie enterprises", the ineffective and low-end supply of steel and coal has been significantly reduced, the supply structure has been significantly improved, and the utilization rate of production capacity has rebounded.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of this year, the national industrial capacity utilization rate was 76.7, an increase of 0.3% over the same period last year. Among them, the national industrial capacity utilization rate was 76.8 in the second quarter, up 0.3% from the first quarter.

In terms of industries, the coal mining and washing industry capacity utilization rate was 72.9 in the second quarter, up 1.7% from the first quarter; the ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry capacity utilization rate was 78.5, up 1.6% from the first quarter.

With the solid progress of overcapacity-related work, the overall supply and demand of the coal industry has performed well. Wang Xianzheng, President of the China Coal Industry Association, said that in the first half of this year, coal enterprises above designated size produced 1.7 billion tons of raw coal, an increase of 3.9 year-on-year; net coal imports were 144 million tons, an increase of 12.6 year-on-year; preliminary estimates indicate that the national coal consumption is about 1.89 billion tons. , A year-on-year increase of 3.1, achieving a basic balance of production and demand.

More importantly, with the advancement of coal production capacity reduction, new coal mine approvals and capacity replacement efforts have increased, a large number of large modern coal mines have also been put into operation, and the quality of the coal supply system has steadily improved, which has further promoted the coal industry. Benefits continue to improve.

In the steel industry, with the advancement of capacity reduction, the supply and demand of the steel industry have shifted from a severe surplus to a relative balance, and the capacity utilization rate of the steel industry has gradually recovered.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in June this year, the national output of pig iron, crude steel and steel were 65.88 million tons, 80.2 million tons and 95.51 million tons respectively; the national average daily output of crude steel was 2.673 million tons, a record high.

With the improvement of market supply and demand, the price of the steel industry has rebounded, and market efficiency has improved. Qu Xiuli, vice president of the China Iron and Steel Association, said that since the beginning of this year, the domestic macro-economy has been stable and positive, steel production has been generally stable, superior production capacity has been released, the supply and demand of the steel market has been generally balanced, steel prices have fluctuated, and the benefits of the steel industry have maintained growth.

The task of reducing overcapacity is still arduous

Since 2016, various regions and relevant departments have steadily promoted the work of eliminating excess capacity in iron and steel and coal and preventing and eliminating the risk of overcapacity in coal and electricity, and achieved remarkable results. The quality and efficiency of the industry's supply have been greatly improved, the industry's operating conditions have been significantly improved, and the industrial structure Positive progress has been made in adjustment and layout optimization, market competition order has been effectively regulated, and a long-term mechanism has been gradually established and improved. However, as the capacity reduction enters the critical stage, all that needs to be faced are "hard bones".

According to Wang Xianzheng, a comprehensive analysis shows that the current coal mine production capacity in the country is about 4 billion tons per year, and the coal mine production capacity under construction and expansion is about 1.1 billion tons per year, and imports are about 250 million tons. Compared with the national coal consumption, the situation of coal overcapacity has not changed.

This also means that my country will continue to promote coal reduction-related work. “Controlling the disorderly expansion of coal production capacity, controlling the pace of coal resource development, and resolutely eliminating outdated production capacity is an important part of the structural reform of the coal supply side, and it is an inevitable choice for the coal industry to achieve high-quality development.” Wang Xianzheng said, we must unswervingly eliminate it. In the process of backward production capacity and resolving excess production capacity, we will release advanced production capacity in an orderly manner, optimize the coal supply structure, improve the quality and efficiency of coal supply across the country, and provide reliable energy guarantees for national economic and social development.

From the perspective of the iron and steel industry, due to the accelerated release of crude steel production capacity, output has hit record highs, which may affect the balance of supply and demand in the domestic market. Moreover, the phenomenon of reducing production capacity while increasing production may also interfere with the advancement of steel production capacity reduction work.

Qu Xiuli said that the current domestic steel social stocks and corporate stocks are relatively low, and it is necessary to pay close attention to the release of capacity in the steel industry in the later period to prevent excessive growth of market supply pressure.

Experts said that the steel industry should continue to reduce production capacity, control production, stabilize the market, optimize varieties, improve quality, focus on environmental protection and deleveraging, reduce costs, and ensure benefits, and further promote the structural adjustment, transformation and upgrading of steel enterprises.