Three ministries and commissions: formulate an action plan for hydrogen metallurgy to make breakthroughs in advanced process technologies such as hydrogen metallurgy

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission issued the guidance of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on promoting the high-quality development of the steel industry, in which hydrogen energy pointed out:

The R&D investment intensity of the industry is striving to reach 1.5%, and breakthroughs have been made in advanced process technologies such as hydrogen metallurgy, low-carbon metallurgy, clean steel smelting, thin strip casting and rolling, and endless rolling. The numerical control rate of key processes has reached about 80%, the digitization rate of production equipment has reached 55%, and more than 30 smart factories have been built.

Deeply promote green and low-carbon. Implement the implementation plan for carbon peaking in the iron and steel industry, and coordinate and promote the coordinated governance of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Support the establishment of a low-carbon metallurgy innovation alliance, formulate an action plan for hydrogen metallurgy, and accelerate the development and application of low-carbon smelting technology.

The original text is as follows：

Guiding Opinions of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the National Development and Reform Commission on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Iron and Steel Industry

Lianyuan [2022] No. 6 of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

The competent departments of industry and informatization, development and reform, and ecological environment of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and all relevant central enterprises:

The iron and steel industry is an important basic industry of the national economy, an important support for building a modern and powerful country, and an important field for realizing green and low-carbon development. During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, my country's iron and steel industry has further advanced the supply-side structural reform, achieved remarkable results in resolving excess capacity, made the industrial structure more reasonable, and made positive progress in green development, intelligent manufacturing, and international cooperation, which strongly supported the healthy development of the economy and society. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, my country's iron and steel industry still has problems such as overcapacity pressure, insufficient industrial security capability, green and low-carbon development level to be improved, and low industrial concentration. In order to implement the "14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Outline of Vision 2035", "Opinions of the State Council on Dissolving Overcapacity in the Iron and Steel Industry and Realizing Development from Difficulties", and the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the Development of Raw Materials Industry " and other documents to better promote the high-quality development of the iron and steel industry, and formulate these opinions.

1. General requirements

(2) Basic principles

Adhere to innovation and development. Highlight innovation-driven leadership, promote collaborative innovation of production, education, research and application, strengthen basic and applied research on high-end materials, green and low-carbon process technologies, strengthen the integration and innovation of process, equipment, and technology in the industrial chain, promote the coupled development of industries, and strengthen the steel industry and new technologies. , New business integration and innovation.

Adhere to total control. Optimize production capacity control policies, deepen the reform of factor allocation, strictly implement production capacity replacement, strictly prohibit new steel production capacity, support the superior and eliminate the inferior, encourage cross-regional and cross-ownership mergers and reorganizations, and increase industrial concentration.

Adhere to green and low carbon. Adhere to the combination of total volume control and scientific and technological innovation and carbon reduction, adhere to the combination of source management, process control and end management, comprehensively promote ultra-low emission transformation, and comprehensively promote coordinated pollution reduction and carbon reduction.

Adhere to overall coordination. Coordinate supply guarantee, green and low carbon, resource security and industry development, follow the development law of the steel industry, maintain the stability and forward-looking of the overcapacity policy, and improve the adaptability and effectiveness of supply and demand.

(3) Main objectives

By 2025, the iron and steel industry will basically form a high-quality development pattern featuring reasonable layout, stable resource supply, advanced technology and equipment, prominent quality brands, high level of intelligence, strong global competitiveness, and green, low-carbon and sustainable development.

The ability to innovate has been significantly enhanced. The R&D investment intensity of the industry is striving to reach 1.5%, and breakthroughs have been made in advanced process technologies such as hydrogen metallurgy, low-carbon metallurgy, clean steel smelting, thin strip casting and rolling, and endless rolling. The numerical control rate of key processes has reached about 80%, the digitization rate of production equipment has reached 55%, and more than 30 smart factories have been built.

The industrial structure has been continuously optimized. The development level of industrial agglomeration has been significantly improved, and the concentration of the iron and steel industry has been greatly improved. The process structure has been significantly optimized, and the proportion of EAF steel output in the total crude steel output has increased to more than 15%. The layout structure has become more reasonable, and the supply and demand in the steel market have basically reached a dynamic balance.

Green and low-carbon are further promoted. Build a resource recycling system for coupled development between industries, complete ultra-low emission transformation of more than 80% of steel production capacity, reduce comprehensive energy consumption per ton of steel by more than 2%, and reduce water consumption intensity by more than 10% to ensure that carbon peaks by 2030.

Resource security has been greatly improved. The ability to guarantee diversification of resources has been significantly enhanced, the production capacity, scale and intensification level of domestic iron mines have been greatly improved, the scrap steel recycling and processing system has been basically improved, the utilization level has been significantly improved, and the amount of scrap steel resources utilized by the iron and steel industry has reached more than 300 million tons.

Supply quality continued to improve. The supply capacity of high-end steel products has been greatly enhanced, the varieties and quality have been upgraded, and about five key steel materials have been broken through every year, forming a group of corporate brands and product brands with greater international influence.

2. Main tasks

(4) Enhance innovation and development capabilities. Strengthen the main position of enterprises in innovation, and create a collaborative innovation ecology integrating production, education, research and application. Adopt methods such as "revealing the list and taking command" to promote the construction of industry public service innovation platforms and innovation centers. The focus is on key common technologies such as low-carbon metallurgy, clean steel smelting, thin strip casting and rolling, high-efficiency rolling, process control based on big data, energy conservation and environmental protection, as well as general-purpose special equipment and components such as advanced electric furnaces, special smelting, and high-end testing. Increase investment in innovation resources. Give play to the role of a demonstration platform for the production and application of new materials, establish and improve the upstream and downstream cooperation mechanisms for new steel materials in key areas, and build industrial alliances in key areas. Encourage qualified regions to build an innovation platform for the steel industry and actively strive to create a national innovation platform. Strengthen the construction of the standard technology system, formulate and publish a batch of basic and general national standards and industry standards, and cultivate and develop a batch of advanced and applicable high-level group standards to meet the needs of the market and innovation.

(5) It is strictly forbidden to add new steel production capacity. Resolutely curb the blind construction of iron and steel smelting projects, strictly implement laws, regulations and policies such as capacity replacement, project filing, environmental impact assessment, pollution discharge permit, energy assessment, etc., and do not increase steel production capacity in the name of mechanical processing, casting, ferroalloy, etc. Strictly implement laws and regulations on environmental protection, energy consumption, quality, safety, technology, etc., use comprehensive standards to promote the elimination of outdated production capacity in accordance with laws and regulations, and strictly prevent the resurgence of "strip steel" and the resumption of production from overcapacity that has been resolved. Research and implement differentiated control policies based on carbon emissions, pollutant emissions, total energy consumption, capacity utilization, etc. Improve the long-term mechanism for preventing overcapacity, and increase the investigation and punishment of violations of laws and regulations.

(6) Optimizing the industrial layout structure. Encourage key areas to raise the elimination standard, and eliminate low-efficiency, high-energy-consumption, and high-polluting processes and equipment such as step-by-step sintering machines and pelletizing shaft furnaces. Encourage regions with relatively insufficient environmental capacity, energy consumption indicators, market demand, resource and energy security, and steel production capacity to undertake the transfer of production capacity. Areas that have not completed the total production capacity control target shall not be transferred to steel production capacity. Encourage the development of iron and steel smelting projects relying on existing production bases. For steel smelting projects that really need to be newly constructed and relocated, they must be constructed in accordance with the level of advanced technology and equipment. Existing urban steel mills should be based on local transformation, transformation and upgrading, and urban steel mills that fail to meet ultra-low emission requirements and are weak in competitiveness should be based on local reduction and exit. Coordinate the development of the coking industry and steel and other industries, and guide the coking industry to intensify the green and environmental protection transformation.

(7) Promoting mergers and acquisitions of enterprises. Encourage leading enterprises in the industry to implement mergers and reorganizations, and build a number of world-class super-large iron and steel enterprise groups. Relying on the dominant enterprises in the industry, we will cultivate 1 or 2 professional pilot enterprises in the fields of stainless steel, special steel, seamless steel pipe, cast pipe and so on. Encourage iron and steel enterprises to merge and reorganize across regions and ownerships, change the "small and scattered" situation of the iron and steel industry in some areas, and enhance the endogenous power of enterprise development. Orderly guide independent hot rolling and independent coking enterprises in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas to participate in the merger and reorganization of iron and steel enterprises. Policy support for production capacity replacement will be given to enterprises that have completed substantial mergers and acquisitions in the construction of smelting projects. Encourage financial institutions to actively provide comprehensive financial services to iron and steel enterprises that implement mergers and reorganizations, layout adjustments, and transformation and upgrading in accordance with the principles of risk controllability and business sustainability. Properly do a good job in the resettlement of employees in the merger and reorganization of iron and steel enterprises.

(8) The orderly development of electric furnace steelmaking. Promote the high-quality and efficient utilization of scrap steel resources, and guide the development of electric furnace steelmaking in an orderly manner. Implement policies such as differentiated capacity replacement and environmental protection management for all-scrap electric furnace steelmaking projects. Encourage qualified blast furnace-converter long-process enterprises to transform and develop electric furnace short-process steelmaking in situ. Encourage small and medium-sized electric furnace steel enterprises that meet the requirements of energy conservation, environmental protection and technical standards and specifications in central cities and urban clusters to produce products that meet the needs of the regional market, and coordinate the consumption of urban and surrounding waste. Actively develop new electric furnace equipment and accelerate the improvement of the relevant standard system for electric furnace steelmaking. Promote the integrated development of scrap steel recycling, dismantling, processing, classification and distribution, and further improve the construction of scrap steel processing and distribution system. Encourage qualified areas to carry out the construction of electric furnace steel development demonstration areas, and explore the application of new technologies and new equipment. Eight or so advantageous benchmarking electric furnace steelmaking and scrap steel processing and distribution enterprises will be selected respectively to form an industrial model that can be promoted.

(9) Deeply promote green and low carbon. Implement the implementation plan for carbon peaking in the iron and steel industry, and coordinate and promote the coordinated governance of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Support the establishment of a low-carbon metallurgy innovation alliance, formulate an action plan for hydrogen metallurgy, and accelerate the development and application of low-carbon smelting technology. Support the construction of a carbon emission data management system for the whole process of iron and steel production, and participate in national carbon emission trading. Carry out industrial energy-saving diagnostic services and support enterprises to increase the proportion of green energy use. We will comprehensively promote the ultra-low emission transformation of the iron and steel industry, accelerate the promotion of clean transportation in iron and steel enterprises, and improve the differentiated electricity price policy that is conducive to green and low-carbon development. Actively promote the coupled development of steel and building materials, electric power, chemical industry, non-ferrous metals and other industries, and improve the comprehensive utilization efficiency of solid waste resources such as steel slag. Vigorously promote the utilization of unconventional water sources such as enterprise comprehensive wastewater and urban domestic sewage. Promote green consumption, carry out pilot projects for steel structure housing and rural housing construction, optimize the standard system for steel structure buildings; establish and improve the evaluation system for steel green design products, and guide the upgrading of steel use in downstream industries.

(10) Vigorously develop intelligent manufacturing. Carry out an action plan for intelligent manufacturing in the iron and steel industry, promote the application of technologies such as 5G, industrial Internet, artificial intelligence, commercial encryption, and digital twins in the iron and steel industry, and make breakthroughs in a number of key common technologies of intelligent manufacturing in the fields of iron ore mining and iron and steel production, and select a group of Promote application scenarios and cultivate a group of high-level professional system solution suppliers. Carry out demonstration and promotion of intelligent manufacturing, and build a batch of intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories. Build a big data center for the steel industry to improve data resource management and service capabilities. Relying on leading enterprises to promote multi-base collaborative manufacturing, realize the optimization of the entire industry chain under the framework of the Industrial Internet. Encourage enterprises to vigorously promote smart logistics, explore the application of a new generation of information technology in all aspects of production and marketing, and continuously improve efficiency and reduce costs. Build a standard system for intelligent manufacturing in the iron and steel industry, and actively carry out research on basic commonality, key technologies and industry application standards.

(11) Significantly improve the quality of supply. Establish and improve the product quality evaluation system, accelerate the promotion of the quality improvement and upgrading of steel products, promote quality classification and evaluation in the fields of aerospace, ship and marine engineering equipment, energy equipment, advanced rail transit and automobiles, high-performance machinery, construction, etc., and continue to improve product quality. The stability and consistency of physical quality will promote the improvement of physical quality of steel products. Support iron and steel enterprises aiming at the development of downstream industries and strategic emerging industries, focusing on the development of high-quality special steel, special alloy steel for high-end equipment, steel for core basic components and other small batches and multi-variety key steels, and strive to break through about 5 types each year Key new steel materials to better meet market demand. Encourage enterprises to firmly establish the awareness of quality first and brand leadership, further promote user-centered service-oriented manufacturing, and carry out new formats such as large-scale customization, remote operation and maintenance services, networked collaborative manufacturing, and e-commerce, and enhance the added value of products and services. .

(12) Improve resource security capabilities. Make full use of both domestic and international markets and two resources to establish a stable and reliable diversified raw material supply system. Strengthen the basic guarantee capacity of domestic mineral resources, promote the development of domestic key mine resources, support the construction of smart mines and green mines, strengthen the standardized management of the iron ore industry, and establish an iron ore capacity reserve and mineral land reserve system. Promote the comprehensive separation and utilization of refractory ores, and promote the comprehensive development and utilization of vanadium-titanium-magnetite. Encourage enterprises to carry out port ore mixing business, increase port inventory, and play the buffer role of port inventory on resource security. In accordance with the principle of marketization, strengthen international cooperation in the development of iron ore resources. Improve the construction of the iron ore futures market, strengthen the supervision of the futures market, and improve the reasonable pricing mechanism for iron ore.

(13) Improve the level of intrinsic safety. Consolidate the main responsibility of the enterprise, based on the prevention at the source, and guide the enterprise to strengthen the safety production management from the aspects of industry planning, industrial policy, regulations and standards, and administrative licensing. Iron and steel enterprises should improve the safety risk prevention and control mechanism, continue to promote the standardization of safety production, fully implement the safety production responsibility system, carry out in-depth investigation and management of safety risks, eliminate outdated high-risk technology and equipment, and implement online monitoring and early warning of major hazards. Technology application to prevent and curb the occurrence of major accidents. Implement the main responsibility of network security, vigorously improve the security of commercial cryptography applications, improve the security protection level of industrial control systems, formulate emergency response plans, and actively respond to security challenges brought about by the integration of emerging technologies.

(14) Maintain a fair market order. Strengthen the standardized management of production and operation of iron and steel enterprises, strengthen the constraints of quality, equipment, environmental protection, energy consumption, and safety, and strengthen supervision during and after the event, so as to realize dynamic adjustment of "in and out". Strengthen the establishment of the corporate integrity system, create a fair and honest market environment, and punish unauthorized new production capacity, counterfeiting, and illegal sewage discharge in accordance with laws and regulations, and incorporate them into a joint punishment mechanism. Give full play to the role of industry organizations, enhance corporate social responsibility awareness and industry self-discipline, avoid disorderly and vicious competition, and maintain the smooth operation of the industry. Establish an evaluation system for high-quality development of enterprises, promote standardized and classified management of production and operation of iron and steel enterprises, support the development of "benchmarking to tap potential, technological transformation and upgrading", and build several companies with representative achievements in the fields of new materials, intelligent manufacturing, green and low carbon, etc. Develop high-quality steel demonstration enterprises.

(15) Improve the level of openness and cooperation. Implement high-quality standards leading actions, speed up the mutual translation and transformation of international standards and Chinese standards, promote mutual recognition of international inspection, testing and certification results, and guide China's steel products, equipment, technologies, and services to "go global" in coordination. Encourage the import of resource products and semi-manufactured products such as pig iron, direct reduced iron, recycled steel raw materials, billets, and ingots. Encourage domestic and foreign steel, mining, and shipping companies to strengthen cooperation and build a global steel industry ecosystem with complementary advantages and mutual benefits.

3. Safeguard measures

(16) Strengthen the organization and implementation. Relevant departments in various places should strengthen overall planning and coordination, strengthen supervision during and after the event, and promote the implementation of various tasks. Relevant enterprises should carry out relevant work in a pragmatic manner according to their own actual conditions and in accordance with their main goals and key tasks. Industry organizations should give full play to their role as bridges, strengthen guidance services to enterprises, reflect new situations and problems in a timely manner, and put forward policy suggestions.

(17) Strengthen policy coordination. Strengthen policy convergence and strengthen industry-fusion cooperation. Give play to the role of the national industry-integration cooperation platform, actively support enterprises to undertake key technological breakthroughs and cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, and guide and encourage social capital to increase investment in new materials, intelligent manufacturing, green manufacturing, and resource guarantees. Pay attention to demand guidance and standard guidance, promote the downstream steel industry to improve design specifications and standards, and guide the upgrading of steel product consumption. Promote the steel industry to disclose environmental information in accordance with the law and receive social supervision.

(18) Strengthen publicity and propaganda. Strengthen policy interpretation, publicity and implementation, and form a favorable public opinion environment. Widely publicize the good experience and good practices of high-quality development of the steel industry, establish typical, advanced learning, maintain and enhance the social image of the steel industry, and enhance the sense of mission, responsibility and honor of the entire industry to promote high-quality development. Strengthen public opinion supervision, timely expose violations of laws and regulations, and strengthen negative warnings.