The profit of steel pipe industry is facing greater challenge

Ultra-low emissions in the steel industry has begun. The ministry will promote in-depth pollution control in key industries like steel pipe industry and the important aspect is the production of structural steel pipe. However, what is ultra-low emissions? It refers to all production processes for steel pipe enterprises including raw materials, coking, iron-making, steel-making, steel rolling and so on. In addition, it also includes bulk material transportation and all these processes should achieve ultra-low emission levels such as the emission control of organized atmospheric pollutants and unorganized emission control and bulk material transportation emissions control.

What are the challenges facing the steel industry?
The iron and steel industry is one of the major polluters in China’s industrial sector. It is estimated that the overall exhaust emissions account for about 8% of the total industrial exhaust emissions. From the removal of major pollutants produced by steel pipe suppliers, the removal rate of current pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide in the iron and steel industry is still less than 50% and the future will be the focus of treatment.

In May 2018, the ministry of ecological environment issued the work plan for the transformation of ultra-low emission of iron and steel enterprises, which proposed that the average hourly emission concentrations should be no higher than 10, 35 and 50mg/m respectively, compared with the current special emission limits of 40, 180 and 300 mg/m. From the perspective of hollow section manufacturers, even if they have reached the standards, the governance situation is uneven, and the vast majority of existing steel enterprises do not meet the new ultra-low emission standards. The work plan for ultra-low emission transformation of iron and steel enterprises clearly puts forward a timetable for ultra-low emission transformation, in which all newly built (including relocated) iron and steel projects should reach ultra-low emission level and strive to complete 480 million tons of transformation of steel production capacity by the end of 2020. It means that nearly half of the transformation tasks will be completed by 2020.

The impact of ultra-low emissions on the steel industry
From public data, some steel enterprises began to increase environmental protection investment significantly. The transformation of the steel industry with ultra-low emissions could cost 80 billion yuan, or nearly 10 billion yuan. Related analysts said the impact of ultra-low emissions on the steel industry is certainly greater than the previous stage. In the previous stage, steel enterprises often realized emission reduction by limiting production, which reduced the market supply for mild steel tube and increased steel prices.