In China, 610mn mt of crude steel capacity is under transformation through the adoption of ultra-low emission standards, according China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). As part of structural reforms, the government is pushing steelmakers to deploy low-emission retrofits to reduce and curb air pollution in the country.
Top MEE official said that the next step will be aggressive optimization of industry, energy, transportation to control PM2.5 pollution and ozone pollution. MEE stated that under the 13th five-year plan around 200mn mt of steel capacity was resolved, and 140mn mt of ground strip steel units were closed. Currently, around 610mn mt crude steel production capacity in China is being transformed with low emission retrofit.
Earlier last week, MEE has asked steel companies to cut production and reduce excess capacity and emissions to curb air pollution along the Yangtze River Delta which includes the Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces during the autumn and winter season of 2020-2021. This move is likely to marginally lower Q4 steel output in China
China is also focusing reducing emission from coal-fueled thermal power industry. More than 70,000 companies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region and the neighbouring region, and 39 cities in the Fenwei Plain were designated as “scattered and polluting” companies in 2018 and 2019. Less efficient coal-fired boilers in BTH and surrounding areas will be eliminated.
Green transportation is also being promoted with the increased construction of connecting lines between railways and ports as well as special railway lines for industrial and mining enterprises. The country is also implementation national VI emission standards for light vehicles and aggressively promoting clean and new energy vehicles.