China becomes the world's largest steel producer

As the world's largest steel-producing country, China's crude steel production in 2012 was 717 million tons, accounting for 46.3% of the country's total crude steel production. The second, third, and fourth countries are Japan, the United States, and India, respectively, with output of 107 million tons, 88.6 million tons, and 76.7 million tons respectively.

Second, the growth rate of China's steel production has dropped and the benefits have declined. (1) Crude steel production rose first and then fell. In 2012, the country’s output of pig iron, crude steel, and steel (including repetitive materials) was 658 million tons, 717 million tons, and 952 million tons, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%, 3.1%, and 7.7%, respectively, and the growth of crude steel production was faster than the previous year. Declined by 5.8 percentage points. From the current year's situation, the steel production in the first half of the year showed an upward trend, and it fell back in the second half of the year. The average daily crude steel production was 1.658 million tons.

(2) Decrease in imports of steel exports. In 2012, China exported 55.73 million tons of steel, an increase of 14.0% year-on-year; imports were 13.66 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 12.3%. The imported billet was 360,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 43.3%. Total material billets, equivalent to 44.4 million tons of net crude steel exports, an increase of 6.61 million tons over the previous year, an increase of 27.6%.

(c) Steel stocks declined for 10 consecutive months. In 2012, the social inventory of 26 major steel markets and five kinds of steels (middle slabs, cold rolled sheets, hot rolled sheets, wire rods, and rebars) across the country showed an upward trend and then a downward trend. At the end of December, steel society stocks stood at 11.88 million tons, which fell for the tenth month in a row. Compared with February, the highest in the year, the cumulative decline was 7.06 million tons, a drop of 37.3%.

(d) Steel prices oscillated downward. In the first eight months of 2012, steel prices showed a trend of going up first and then falling. In the last four months, the steel market recovered slightly and dropped slightly. The average price of CSPI steel comprehensive prices for the year was 111.76 points, down by 19.28 points over the previous year, a decrease of 14.71%.

(5) The iron ore price rose rapidly at the end of the year. In 2012, a total of 744 million tons of iron ore was imported nationwide, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year, and the average import price was US$128.6/ton, a decrease of US$35.4/ton from the previous year. The price of imported iron ore has been oscillating since falling to the lowest point in three years at the end of September. At the end of December, iron ore prices quickly rebounded to nearly US$160/ton.

(6) The economic efficiency of enterprises has dropped significantly. In 2012, China’s key statistics and iron and steel enterprises realized a total sales income of 35,441.10 billion yuan, profits and taxes of 74.089 billion yuan, and total profits of 1.581 billion yuan, which were respectively 4.31%, 54.33%, and 98.22% lower than the same period of last year. From the current year's situation, the whole industry suffered losses in January-February, slightly profitable in March-May, and suffered losses in June-September, which improved in October-December. In the case of sluggish markets and rising prices of raw materials such as iron ore, the profit margins of large and medium-sized steel companies in 2012 were only 0.04%.

(VII) The increase in investment in fixed assets dropped. In 2012, China’s investment in ferrous metal mining industry was 152.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.7%, an increase of 5.3 percentage points over the previous year, and ferrous metal smelting and rolling investment was 50.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.0%. The year-on-year increase was 14.6%.

Third, the industry in the first quarter of 2013 (I) demand situation has improved, but still not optimistic. In the fourth quarter of 2012, China's economy has seen a good momentum of stabilization and recovery, providing favorable conditions for the stable development of the steel industry this year. On the whole, the operating environment of the steel industry in the first quarter of this year is better than that of the previous year, and the demand for steel products will increase. However, due to the large base capacity of the steel industry, the situation of oversupply in the market has not yet significantly improved.

(b) The rising cost of production makes it difficult to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The United States, Europe, and the United States have introduced quantitative easing policies one after another, which has promoted a new round of rising prices for international bulk commodities such as iron ore and coal. In 2013, China will also step up efforts in energy conservation and emission reduction. The pace of reforms in resources, energy prices, fiscal and taxation will be further accelerated, and the company's investment and operating costs in energy conservation and environmental protection will increase. In addition, the shortage of corporate funds in 2013 will continue and capital costs will continue to rise.

(3) Increased trade friction and difficulty in the export of steel products. In 2012, there were nine cases of trade remedy surveys against Chinese steel products, which showed an explosive growth trend, and the countries and regions that initiated trade remedy surveys had changed. Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against China were first initiated by the United States and Canada, and then spread to the European Union and Australia. At present, ASEAN countries and Brazil have gradually become the main sponsors. In 2013, the pace of recovery of the world economy was still slow, and it is expected that exports of steel products will encounter greater resistance in 2013.

In the face of the complex and difficult economic situation at home and abroad, the steel industry must conscientiously implement the spirit of the ***, take the accelerated transformation of development methods as the main line of work, strive to resolve the overcapacity contradiction, adjust the industrial structure, improve the quality and efficiency of operation, and strive to realize the steel industry Innovation drives new development.