In the first quarter, market demand improved, the economy started well, and the overall demand for steel in downstream industries stabilized. Steel production and crude steel consumption both increased year-on-year, and industry efficiency rebounded month by month. "Tang Zujun, Vice President of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said at a recent information conference of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association< The operating characteristics of China's steel industry in the first quarter showed that steel production increased year-on-year and market demand improved. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter, China's crude steel production reached 261.56 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%; The production of pig iron reached 219.83 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%; The steel production reached 332.59 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. In the first quarter, the apparent consumption of crude steel was 243.42 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%; The monthly steel inventory of key enterprises is higher than the same period last year, and the supply intensity is higher than the consumption growth Steel exports increased year-on-year, while imports significantly decreased year-on-year.           According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, in the first quarter, China exported a total of 20.8 million tons of steel, a year-on-year increase of 53.2%, and the average export price was 1254 US dollars per ton, a year-on-year decrease of 10.8%; Accumulated imports of 1.91 million tons of steel, a year-on-year decrease of 40.5%, with an average import price of 1713 US dollars per ton, a year-on-year increase of 15.2% Steel prices have decreased significantly, while raw fuel prices have decreased slightly. According to the monitoring of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, the average value of China's steel price index in the first quarter was 117.32 points, a year-on-year decrease of 13.68%; The average procurement cost of coking coal for key steel enterprises decreased by 4.70% year-on-year; In the first quarter, the Platts 62% iron ore index was 127.06 US dollars per ton, equivalent to a 9.13% year-on-year decrease in RMB prices

     The industry's efficiency has rebounded month by month, and the year-on-year decline is still significant. According to the statistics of the Steel Association, from January to March, the total profits of key steel enterprises were 2.545 billion yuan, 2.859 billion yuan, and 10.325 billion yuan, respectively, with the loss area narrowing month by month. In the first quarter, the key statistics showed that the operating revenue of steel enterprises was 1554.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.24%; The operating cost was 1466.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.90%, 3.66 percentage points higher than the increase in revenue; The total profit was 15.968 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 71.49%; The sales profit margin was 1.03%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.65% Adhere to green and low-carbon development, with significant energy-saving and emission reduction effects. According to the statistics of the Steel Association, in the first quarter, the total amount of wastewater discharged by member steel enterprises decreased by 16.39% year on year, the discharge of chemical oxygen demand decreased by 22.30% year on year, the discharge of ammonia nitrogen decreased by 12.16% year on year, the discharge of sulfur dioxide decreased by 15.75% year on year, and the new water consumption per ton of steel decreased by 6.0% year on year Currently, the steel industry still faces difficulties and challenges such as steel supply intensity exceeding consumption growth, enterprise inventory increasing year-on-year, significant decline in industry profits, rapid growth in accounts receivable, significant decline in steel prices, and relatively high raw fuel prices Tang Zujun called on steel companies to jointly strengthen self-discipline and reasonably control their steel inventory. In the next stage, the steel industry should actively adapt to changes in market demand, strive to maintain a dynamic balance between supply and demand, and take multiple measures to promote high-quality development of the industry Through comprehensive benchmarking, system wide error finding, and comprehensive improvement, management efficiency, operational efficiency, and operational quality are significantly improved, while maintaining stable economic benefits. Promote the establishment of a unified national market for the steel industry, break regional monopolies, and remove institutional and institutional obstacles that hinder restructuring. According to the plan, we will orderly promote the three major steel renovation projects covering the entire industry, namely capacity replacement, ultra-low emissions, and ultimate energy efficiency. We will carry out a sorting of steel capacity replacement projects and strictly supervise and inspect illegal production capacity. Continuously promote the ultra-low emission transformation of steel enterprises and guide the steel industry to carry out extreme energy efficiency work. Implement the "cornerstone plan" and the steel application expansion plan with the main focus on promoting steel structure residential areas, and strengthen cross industry cooperation in upstream and downstream fields. Concentrate efforts to conquer a batch of "bottleneck" steel materials and core technologies, strengthen the research and development of standards in key areas such as new materials, low-carbon, and intelligent manufacturing, and focus on the joint development of standards for "special, refined, and high" key varieties

       In addition, it is also necessary to accelerate the construction of intelligent manufacturing standard system, accelerate the construction of intelligent manufacturing service platform for the steel industry, Industrial Internet platform, etc., realize the joint construction, governance and sharing of the steel industry and upstream and downstream industries, and constantly improve the level of intelligent manufacturing in the industry Source: China Economic Network - Economic Daily Editor: Zhang Limin