Prospects of Iron and Steel Production and Progress of Blast Furnace Route in China

This paper reports the results relating to the following four subjects: i) current status and future prospects of iron and steel production in China; ii) equipped plantsize and operating condition of blast furnaces that sustain Chinese big steel production; iii) trends of demand and supply of iron ore and coal for blast furnaces; and iv) challenges and problems entailed by production increases. Competition with China in the raw materials and coal market and excessive production capacity of blast furnaces in China negatively impact blast furnaces in Japan. ore, coal, pig iron, crude steel and steel products of the country and the percentage shares of principal provinces. The number of companies operating blast furnaces plant is estimated at approximately 800, and many of them are located in the north and northeast regions, where there are many coal and ore mines. With respect to the production of finished steel products, on the other hand, the coastal regions are responsible for an overwhelmingly large share. This means that the metal (pig iron and steel) and finished products are produced separately in regions away from each other, and integrated steelmakers producing from metal iron to final products at one location and steelmakers specialized in specific products, which are commonly seen in Japan, are difficult to form. As a result, inefficient use of energy and high costs due to the long-distance transportation of semifinished products are inevitable. Table 2 shows the crude steel outputs of major Chinese steelmakers that produced 5 Mtpy or more in 2004 and their growth rates from 2001 to 2004. The companies having a capacity of 6 to 7 Mtpy exhibited high growth rates; they are located in medium-developed regions a little away from the coastal regions. In contrast, the four priority steelmakers, namely the Baoshan Group, Anshan, Shougang and Wuhan, and the steelmakers in the frontier regions showed comparatively low growth rates. The expansions of the middle-scale steelmakers in the medium-developed regions are due to aggressive shutdown of small blast furnaces and construction of large ones through acquisitions of small companies. However, in spite of the rapid increase in the crude steel production in these regions, the supply/demand problem of excessive production of semifinished products and short supply of finished products persists be