The high-quality development of the steel industry should also dialectically grasp the relationship between "quality" and "quantity". "Quality" refers to the structure and efficiency of economic development, while "quantity" refers to the scale and speed of economic development. The effective improvement of quality is an important driving force for the reasonable growth of quantity, and the reasonable growth of quantity is an important foundation for the effective improvement of quality.
In terms of China's steel industry, we already have a "quantitative" comparative advantage. With a crude steel output of over 1 billion tons and a weighting of over 50%, we have firmly held the top position globally. This extremely large volume determines that the steel industry is the "ballast stone" and "stabilizer" of China's economic development. Whenever China's economy encounters major obstacles, the Chinese steel industry always steps forward to shoulder the responsibility of stabilizing the economy and promoting development. For example, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021, China's steel industry, with 1.035 billion tons of crude steel and a per-ton crude steel profit of 411 yuan, effectively supported China's national economy to achieve a positive growth of 8.1%.
This huge volume also implies that the rapid growth of "quantity" is unsustainable. Therefore, the country has implemented a dual control policy on production capacity and output, hoping to promote the formation of a new pattern of higher-level market supply and demand balance in the steel industry. In 2022, in the face of significant market fluctuations, China's steel industry strengthened self-discipline and consciously maintained the dynamic balance of market supply and demand. The crude steel output was 1.013 billion tons, a decrease of 2.1% compared to the previous year, marking the second consecutive year of decline, and maintaining the stable operation of the industrial chain and supply chain. It can be said that the regulation of crude steel output has become an industry consensus. China's steel industry can not only strongly support the rapid recovery of the Chinese economy with its powerful and abundant production capacity, but also maturely and flexibly respond to the drastic changes in market demand.
While controlling the impulse to "quantify", the key lies in achieving "qualitative optimization". When choosing a new development path for steel, we should focus less on incremental efficiency and more on the optimization of existing resources. Through resource reallocation, we can create new competitiveness.
Where should the direction of resource reallocation be? It should promote the high-end, intelligent and green development of the manufacturing industry.
First, the steel industry should promote the development of high-end products, comprehensively enhance the manufacturing process technology of basic products and the user application technology, and achieve the upgrading of basic steel products used in the national economy and society. This upgrade can further reduce the unit consumption of high-strength, corrosion-resistant and high-quality basic products, lower the user's usage cost, extend the service life, and promote the green and low-carbon development of the economy and society. Moreover, the reduction in costs and the decrease in consumption will in turn expand the application fields of steel, significantly increase the social application volume of steel products, and bring huge development space to the steel industry.
Secondly, intelligent manufacturing is an important means and approach for the steel industry to achieve its own transformation and upgrading and to realize high-quality development. The steel industry should fully seize the industrial revolution opportunity brought by new-generation information technologies, integrate intelligence into the steel manufacturing and operation decision-making process, and realize business model and industrial form innovations such as digital R&D and manufacturing, large-scale customized production, network collaborative manufacturing, and precise operation and control. The exploration and breakthrough in the field of intelligent manufacturing is also a major historical opportunity for the Chinese steel industry to achieve industrial transformation and upgrading and reshape its competitive advantages on a global scale.
Thirdly, green is the distinct color of China's steel industry development. Accelerating the low-carbon transformation is the inevitable path for the steel industry to upgrade and achieve high-quality development. China's steel industry adheres to the world's most stringent environmental emission standards, has released the "Vision for Carbon Neutrality and Low-Carbon Technology Roadmap for the Steel Industry", launched the first EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) platform in the industrial sector of China - the Steel Industry EPD Platform, and is promoting ultra-low emissions and maximum energy efficiency... Just as the Party Secretary and Executive Director of the China Iron and Steel Association, He Wenbo, said: "China's steel industry has the will, the ability, and the action to work with fellow steel industry colleagues around the world to create a new era of low-carbon metallurgy."
Of course, whether it is high-end development, intelligence, or greenness, all require the impetus of independent innovation. Achieving effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth will test our capabilities in scientific and technological innovation as well as management innovation.
High-quality development is the primary task in the comprehensive construction of a socialist modernized country. The steel industry must take the initiative to shoulder this responsibility! Because, through long-term reform and innovation as well as efforts to enhance efficiency, China's steel industry has become one of the industries with the strongest international competitiveness. In the new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modernized country, the steel industry in our country will firmly hold onto the confidence in high-quality development, fulfill the mission of strengthening the country and rejuvenating the nation, properly balance the dialectical unity of "quality" and "quantity", broaden and deepen the development paths of high-end, intelligent and greenization, and not be afraid of challenges, but move forward steadily!
Next：The steel industry jointly builds a virtuous digital ecosystem
