The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology elaborates the “12th Five-year Plan” of the iron and steel industry

The "12th Five-Year Development Plan for the Iron and Steel Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Planning") was formally announced in January. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology made a detailed interpretation of this plan yesterday, focusing on why the concentration of the steel industry was set at 60%, and proposed the establishment of New ideas for China's iron ore resource security system - encourage steel companies to purchase mines and build factories overseas.

60% of the development goals are more in line with the country's "Planning" proposed in the target. At the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", the industry concentration of the top ten steel companies has increased to 60%. This is 12 percentage points higher than the current level, but there is still a big gap compared with the concentration of 2-3 companies in the United States, Japan, and Korea that occupy 70%-80% of production.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology explained to this claim that first, considering the complexity of mergers and reorganizations of Chinese steel companies, it is difficult for industrial concentration to increase significantly in the short term; second, China has a vast territory and unbalanced regional development. The steel industry is large in scale and scattered. The multiple ownership systems of enterprises coexist, and the management system has distinct features. Therefore, it is proposed that the 60% development goal is more in line with China's actual conditions.

New ideas to solve the iron ore problem The high price of iron ore has become one of the problems that restrict our steel industry. Yesterday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed a new idea for the protection of iron ore: As China's iron ore resources have low grades, poor margins, and high mining costs, it is not a problem to encourage iron ore imports, and it is more important to increase iron ore security. Encourage steel companies to go out. It is not only necessary to mine, but also to build factories and transport steel billets or steels instead of just domestic development.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also pointed out that encouraging enterprises to go out and build steel plants is a big strategy for the development of the iron and steel industry during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, and raising the level of domestic iron ore resources is the second-level problem. Steel companies have already responded to the construction of overseas plants. This week, Shougang first stepped out of the country and invested nearly US$600 million in the first phase to build steel mills in Malaysia.