Xinggang relocation site was changed to Wei County, Xingtai City, 64 kilometers away from Hengshui Lake Wetland, the focus of the previous dispute. The new plan has been reported and will be finally announced.
However, the relocation plan that Xinggang and even steel enterprises across the country have not yet been registered has been suspended due to the "Notice on Improving the Replacement of Steel Capacity and Project Filing" by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
"Capacity replacement was originally intended to reduce steel production capacity, but at present, the phenomenon of building small and falsely reporting capacity is very common in capacity replacement projects."
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Southern Weekend reporter Yang Kaiqi
In November 2019, the current location of Xinggang in Qiaoxi District, Xingtai City, railway passed through the factory. (Southern Weekend reporter Yang Kaiqi/photo)
The fight between Hengshui and Xingtai in Hebei Province and Xingtai may come to an end.
Xingtai Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., founded in 1958, is located in Qiaoxi District, Xingtai City. In order to reduce air pollution in the main urban area of Xingtai and upgrade and transform itself, it will be preparing to relocate from 2018. The factory site was originally selected in Xinhe County, Xingtai City, close to Hengshui City.
Unexpectedly, this move was firmly resisted by Hengshui City, worried that the Hengshui Lake National Protection Area, 18 kilometers away from the factory, would be affected by wastewater and waste gas. A deeper concern is that Xinggang will affect Hengshui's environmental performance. Hengshui once ranked last in the year in 74 cities in the country, but in 2018, the bottom ten cities withdrew from 74 cities, ranking first in Hebei Province and third in the country (see Southern Weekend on November 28, 2019 for details, "Brother cities compete, academicians take turns to investigate - Xinggang can't move", click to read the original text to jump to the client).
After several confrontations, Xing Gang and Xingtai both made concessions. Xinggang's relocation site was changed to Wei County, Xingtai City, 64 kilometers away from Hengshui Lake Wetland, the focus of the previous dispute. Several Xinggang staff told Southern Weekend reporters that the new plan has been reported and will be finally announced.
However, due to a notice of "suspending capacity replacement", Xinggang's relocation is still in a stagnant state. On January 23, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Improving the Steel Capacity Replacement and Project Filing" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), requiring all localities to suspend steel capacity replacement and project filing, and report the results of self-inspection and self-correction before April 30.
"Capacity replacement was originally intended to reduce steel production capacity, but at present, the phenomenon of building small and false reporting of production capacity is very common in capacity replacement projects. At the same time, the transfer of production capacity receiving places, such as Guangxi and Fujian, has new clusters, and the adjustment of steel production capacity structure is difficult to achieve as expected." Xu Xiangchun, information director of "My Steel Network", analyzed the background of the issuance of the "Notice" to the Southern Weekend reporter.
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Provincial leaders investigated Xinggang's relocation
On March 14, 2020, a Hengshui media person suddenly told the Southern Weekend reporter that Xinggang planned to re-elect a location to Wei County, "helped a heart disease for the people of Hengshui."
Xinggang moved to Xinhe, which seemed to be a sure thing. A reporter from Southern Weekend visited the "Xinggang New Site" originally planned in Xinhe County in November 2019. At that time, part of the land had been leveled and was paved with a green dustproof net. According to the report of Xingtai Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology in October 2018, Xinggang originally planned to start construction at the end of 2018 and complete relocation before the end of 2020.
In order to boycott Xinggang's relocation, Hengshui has gathered all walks of life to respond. From directly "reporting" to the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, to hosting forums, inviting academicians to inspect, and forming a city-level "neighborhood movement", it has attracted the attention of the whole country.
Xinggang's relocation dispute calmed down for nearly 4 months after public reports, but Xinggang and Xingtai City could not afford to wait. According to the ranking of air quality in 168 cities across the country in 2019, Xingtai ranks second from the bottom. Xingtai City originally planned to develop it into a commercial complex at the factory vacated by Xinggang, and the added value part was used as compensation for Xinggang's relocation expenses.
Xinggang relocation has also attracted the attention of the Hebei Provincial Government. "We won the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress at the beginning of this year. The leaders of (Hebei) and (Xingtai) attach great importance to the Xinggang relocation project and do everything possible to promote the implementation of the project." Liu Hongwei, general manager of Xingtai Iron and Steel Company, said.
In January 2020, "Development and Application of Key Technologies for Green and High-Efficiency Electroslag Remelting of High-Quality Special Steel" won the first prize in National Science and Technology Progress, which is the first time in the national steel industry in 15 years, and Xinggang is one of the main completed units.
A person from Hengshui CPPCC revealed that in mid-March, Hebei Executive Vice Governor Yuan Tongli went to Hengshui to investigate the impact of Xinggang's move to Wei County on Hengshui Lake. On the same day, Governor Xu Qin was in Wei County for investigation. Southern Weekend reporters checked the news and found that Xu Qin was investigating in Wei County on March 16, but no public reports of Yuan Tongli going to Hengshui were found.
Southern Weekend reporters received a document on March 16 "Premier Government Leaders Come to Wei for Field Inspection of Xinggang Relocation Site Selection Plan (Draft)" which shows that in order to welcome Hebei Governor Xu Qin and his party to Wei County for investigation, 7 exhibition boards will be arranged on the spot, and Wei County Mayor Shang Liying will report. Afterwards, Xu Qin will also hold a discussion with representatives from Xingtai City, Wei County and Xinggang. However, these agendas were not seen in public reports of Xu Qin's investigation in Wei County that day.
Relevant persons from Xinggang confirmed to the Southern Weekend reporter that the governor did arrange a survey on Xinggang's relocation that day.
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Why did it change to Weixian?
In a "Explanation on the Optimization Plan for Xinggang Relocation" transferred by Liu Hongwei to a reporter from Southern Weekend, the location advantages of Wei County were analyzed. Previously, Xing Gang was attracted by Xinhe, and an important condition was that the local area was close to the Handan-Huang Railway, which was conducive to cargo transportation. The location of Wei County is also close to the Handan-Huang Railway, but it is a little far away from the railway, so it is planned to build a Wei County branch line to directly reach the factory area. In addition, the explanation stated that the area has abundant resources such as water, electricity, and natural gas. At the same time, Weixian has many automobile industries, which facilitates Xinggang to extend its industrial chain nearby.
But Wei County still has borders with Hengshui, and Hengshui still has doubts. The above-mentioned Hengshui CPPCC person said that the prevalent wind in Hengshui is the south wind, and the Xinggangwei County factory site is located exactly south of Hengshui.
The preliminary plan describes the site selection as follows: Xinggang Company commissioned the Design Institute to review and compare again, and the site selection is set at Weixian High-tech Development Zone. The site selection is located 70 kilometers east of Xingtai City, 38 kilometers north of Hengshui City and 64 kilometers north of Hengshui Lake. It also emphasized that "it is not on the atmospheric transmission channel of Hengshui City, nor does it flow into Hengshui Lake, which will not affect the environment of Hengshui City and Hengshui Lake."
Hengshui has long been informed that Xing Gang will change its location to Wei County, but unlike the fierce resistance she planned to move to Xinhe last time, as of press time, reporters from Southern Weekend have not heard public opposition from Hengshui.
In 2019, when the two places were at the most controversy, experts from Beijing raised two questions: Why not carry out ultra-low emission transformation on the spot? Why don’t you consider moving to other cities in Hebei or outside Hebei Province?
Liu Hongwei explained in an interview with a reporter from Southern Weekend in 2019 that with the expansion of the scale of Xingtai city, Xinggang, which was originally in the suburbs of Xingtai, has been surrounded by the city, and there is not enough space for systematic upgrades and transformations at the original factory site. In addition, the steel enterprises "retreat the city and enter the park (exit the main urban area and enter the industrial park)" is a established policy of Hebei Province, and the relocation of Xinggang is imperative.
Previously, Hebei Province's steel production capacity was mainly transferred to Caofeidian District, Tangshan City, which has a seaport. However, a person from Xingtai Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology introduced that Caofeidian's steel production capacity has also been saturated. A few years ago, policies have been issued to no longer accept the transfer of steel production capacity. Xing Gang also consulted with relevant departments in Hebei Province and the reply he received was that "there is no policy space to transfer to the offshore area."
In addition, Xinggang is not a crude steel enterprise, but a technology-intensive special steel enterprise. The special steel products produced are used in high-speed rail, bridge, automobile and military industries. "Hebei Province is transforming from a 'large steel province' to a 'strong steel province'. If you want to develop high-end equipment manufacturing industry, special steel needs as raw materials." Liu Hongwei said.
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Relocation is not decided, and the relocation of
cannot be started for the time being. Xinggang wants to continue production in the old factory and still have to pay for the installation of new equipment.
The air quality is second to last, and Xingtai still needs to make efforts to rectify industrial pollutant emissions.On February 16, 2020, the official Weibo of Xingtai Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau released a message: Director Wang Chunxi led a team to inspect the installation and debugging of Xinggang's 198 sintering machine denitrification equipment on the spot, and "responsible for Xinggang's active pressure and ultra-low emission transformation."
During the COVID-19 epidemic, although many industries were shut down, the steel industry was still producing. A person from Xing Gang said that the newly installed ultra-low emission equipment before the relocation may have to be removed after the relocation, causing a certain degree of waste. Compared with the current "temporary cramming" emission reduction, Xinggang is looking forward to implementing more systematic solutions after the relocation.
The relocation plan provided by Liu Hongwei introduced that after Xinggang relocates to Wei County, it will adopt a new process, and there is no need for high-pollution emission processes such as sintering, coking, and pellets. The total amount of pollutant emissions will be reduced by more than 74% compared with Xinggang's existing process, and toxic substances such as benzopyrene and hydrogen sulfide produced in the existing production process will be eliminated.
However, the relocation plan that Xinggang and even steel enterprises across the country have not yet been registered has been suspended due to the "Notice" of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The "Notice" requires that from January 24, 2020, all regions shall not publicize or announce new steel capacity replacement plans, and shall not register new steel projects. Otherwise, it will be deemed to be a violation of new steel production capacity and reported to the State Council for serious investigation and punishment, and will be a negative example nationwide notice.
The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology interpreted the "Notice" after the issuance. One of the reasons for the suspension is that "the production efficiency of newly built smelting equipment is higher than that of replacing and withdrawing old equipment, and there is a risk of accelerating the risk of a new round of supply and demand imbalance."
New equipment data seems to be reduced in production capacity, but the efficiency is higher, and more products may be produced after capacity replacement. Xu Xiangchun said that this interpretation does not encourage steel enterprises to regress and use old equipment with low efficiency, but rather restricts local governments and steel enterprises from increasing the proportion of capacity replacement. For example, Hebei previously stipulated that the replacement ratio of withdrawal capacity and construction capacity should not be less than 125:1, which is equivalent to the replacement of 1 million tons of steel production capacity to 800,000 tons, but under the new requirements, it may be reduced to 700,000 tons. "For enterprises involved in capacity replacement, this means that the return on investment ratio needs to be recalculated."
In the original Xinhe plan, Xinggang plans to withdraw iron and steelmaking production capacity of 2.825 million tons and 2.875 million tons, respectively, and the newly built ones are 2.26 million tons and 2.3 million tons. If the location of Wei County is selected, whether it is necessary to recalculate the replacement capacity? A person from Xingtai Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology responded to Southern Weekend reporters that the specific plan will only be implemented after the country introduces a new capacity replacement policy.
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The dilemma of national steel production capacity replacement
Since Beijing Shougang relocated to Caofeidian, a large number of steel enterprises were forced to relocate hundreds of miles away from their hometown due to overcapacity and environmental pollution. Among them, Hebei, the largest province of steel, has the largest scale of moving out. Today, these heavy industry giants who once made their cities proud may face the dilemma of "no retreat".
The "Notice" points out that a large number of out-of-domain transfer capacity in some regions have disorderly undertaken, and there is a lack of scientific demonstration on the impact of steel enterprises on regional industrial structure optimization and upgrading, environmental capacity space, energy conservation and emission reduction target tasks, etc., and structural adjustments are difficult to achieve the expected results.
Liu Haimin, former deputy director of the Metallurgical Industry Economic Development Research Center, analyzed that one of the current trends in relocation of steel mills is to relocate from north to south to coastal provinces such as Shandong, Fujian, and Guangxi, which has certain blindness in scale. "Is it really necessary to say that it is necessary to increase the steel capacity of more than 30 million tons?"
According to the "Implementation Measures for Capacity Replacement of the Steel Industry" implemented in 2018, the approval authority for steel capacity replacement falls to the provincial industrial and information technology department. "In actual operation, the province continues to delegate the approval to cities and counties, and the approval is a bit useless." Xu Xiangchun said that some places even convert production capacity that has long been no longer produced into replaceable production capacity.
The Notice requires that all regions should comprehensively sort out the steel capacity projects registered since 2016, and carry out self-inspection and self-correction to ensure that the projects meet relevant requirements such as safety, environmental protection, energy consumption and capacity replacement. Among them, those that have been put into production must ensure that all replaced capacity has been demolished in place.
"But (capacity replacement) should not be one-size-fits-all." Liu Haimin pointed out that in some areas in the south and west, steel still needs to be transferred from the outside, indicating that local steel production capacity is still insufficient. The national steel production capacity layout can still be optimized through capacity replacement. The new capacity replacement plan should make up for some absent supervision in the past.
Xinggang relocation has not yet come to the ground, and the news has spread long ago. People have speculated in which village this "big project" will be implemented, and are worried about the pollution problems that will follow. A bar friend from Baidu's "Weixian Bar" asked: "Do you want to leave Weixian and go to Xingtai to buy a house?" Someone replied: "The new factory adopts a short process technology, which will be much less polluted than the original one."
has a similar discussion on Baidu's "Xinhe Bar". A bar friend sighed: "If it is true, it's a bit regretful!"
Edited by Wang Tao Vision | Zhou Jiajun
(This article was first published on the Southern Weekend on May 1, 2020. It is an original work. Please contact the backend for reprinting)
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