The future development of electric arc furnace is broad

The proportion of scrap steel making steel is increasing, and the future development space is broad. my country is a big country of iron and steel production. The proportion of long-process steel making is as high as 90%. There is a huge demand for iron ore (745, 16.00, 2.19%). At the same time, the dependence on iron ore has also remained above 80%. The countries that import iron ore in my country are relatively concentrated, and most of the importing countries are in Australia, Brazil and South Africa. Among them, Australia's imports accounted for more than 60%. The total amount of Australian ore imported by China accounts for more than 70% of the country’s ore output. A large amount of dependence on imports has made our country very passive in international ore pricing. International iron ore prices have also risen all the way, which has also put pressure on domestic steelmaking costs.

As a substitute for iron ore and steelmaking, scrap steelmaking has come into people's field of vision in recent years. After the ban on intermediate frequency furnaces in 2016, the supply of scrap iron and steel has increased significantly. With the improvement of my country’s scrap iron and steel making equipment and technology, scrap iron and steel recycling capacity has gradually expanded. At the same time, electric arc furnace steel making has also been developed, and the utilization rate of scrap iron and steel has also been developed. keep growing. In 2019, my country's total consumption of scrap iron and steel reached 240 million tons, of which steelmaking consumption reached 216 million tons, and the utilization rate of scrap iron and steel was as high as 21.58%, an increase of 11 percentage points from 10.2% in 2015.

At the same time, in recent years, the proportion of long-process converter scrap in my country has also increased. In 2019, China's converter scrap ratio reached 16.78%, achieving positive growth for four consecutive years. While environmentally-friendly blast furnace production was limited, steel mills increased production by increasing the ratio of scrap steel into the furnace. At the same time, the increase in converter scrap ratio is also in line with national policies. Development requirements, scrap steel as an infinite recycling resource, increasing the utilization rate of scrap steel has huge room for development. Increasing the scrap ratio of converters can greatly reduce environmental pollution and comprehensive energy consumption, increase converter steel output, and increase the company’s economic benefits. This is also the company’s long-term development strategy.

In recent years, it has also achieved rapid development. Electric arc furnace smelting has absolute advantages in environmental protection and reduction of energy consumption. In capacity replacement, national policies are inclined to encourage some long-process enterprises to transform into electric furnace enterprises, and electric arc furnaces can be Equal replacement. At the same time, the state promotes the revision of relevant policies to create a favorable environment for short-process steelmaking. According to incomplete statistics, the current capacity of my country's electric arc furnace steelmaking exceeds 170 million tons, and the output of electric furnace steel has increased from 47 million tons in 2015 to 10462 tons in 2019, an increase of 106%.

The continuous development of scrap steelmaking has led to a continuous increase in the replacement rate of my country's scrap steel demand for ore. In 2019, my country's crude steel output was 996 million tons, pig iron output was about 800 million tons, and the scrap steel replacement rate was as high as 19%, compared with 2015. The year 13% increased by 6 percentage points.

Although the output of scrap iron and steel in my country is still limited, with the advent of my country’s iron and steel scrap cycle, the amount of scrap iron and steel recycling still has a large room for growth in the future. In the near future, the supply of scrap iron and steel in my country may exceed 300 million tons per year. Under the circumstance that domestic production remains stable, the replacement rate of ore by scrap iron and steel will reach more than 30% in the future. As a special "urban mine", the future development prospect of scrap iron and steel is worth looking forward to.

At the same time, with the continuous transformation of my country's economic development mode, especially the development needs of low-carbon economy and circular economy, it has challenged my country's current steelmaking methods. Green smelting and low-carbon environmental protection have become people's requirements. The green smelting method of electric furnace steelmaking has received enough attention. After the explosive growth of the amount of scrap steel, a wave of introduction of short-flow electric furnace steelmaking technology has appeared. Although we are a big iron and steel country, we are still far away from a strong iron and steel country. Developing electric furnace steelmaking and increasing the proportion of high-end products in our country is an inevitable choice for us to become a strong steel country. In the long run, electric furnace steelmaking has a bright future.