China's steel production accounts for 49.4% of the world's total steel production

　　Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the first batch of 2013 list of 19 industrial industries that eliminated outdated production capacity. The list covers 19 industrial industries such as ironmaking, steelmaking, papermaking, and cement. The industrial industries involved have eliminated outdated production capacity. The target task has been decomposed and implemented to the enterprise. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requires that the backward production capacity on the list should be completely dismantled and eliminated by the end of 2013, and should not be transferred to other regions.

　　There should be two criteria for judging whether it is a backward production capacity. On the one hand, it is judged according to the technical level of production. The so-called backward production capacity refers to the production capacity of production equipment and production technology whose technical level is lower than the average level of the industry; on the other hand, it is judged from the consequences of production capacity. If the technical indicators such as pollutant discharge, energy consumption and water consumption of the production process are higher than the industry average, the production capacity is backward production capacity.

　　China's steel production accounts for 49.4% of the world's total steel production

　　Outdated capacity is often associated with excess capacity. Outdated production capacity is a technical judgment, and overcapacity is a market judgment. Under a perfect market economy, excess production capacity generally includes backward production capacity; and the elimination and withdrawal of backward production capacity can change the relationship between supply and demand in the market and reduce the degree of excess production capacity.

　　At present, overcapacity is a common phenomenon in my country's industrial industry, which has also led to unfair competition among enterprises in the industry by adopting low-price strategies, resulting in serious homogeneity of products and a large backlog of inventory. This not only led to the actual oversupply of many industries, but also caused the profits of some companies to decline rapidly or even suffer serious losses. It is time to accelerate the elimination of backward production capacity during this time period.

　　Among all industries, the phenomenon of overcapacity in the steel industry is particularly evident. According to data, in the first half of this year, China produced 389 million tons of steel, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, accounting for 49.4% of the world's total steel production. The growth rate of steel production was 2.6 percentage points higher than the growth rate of China's steel consumption (4.8%). . The direct consequence of overcapacity in the iron and steel industry is that many listed iron and steel enterprises suffer serious losses. Judging from the semi-annual reports or performance reports disclosed by the listed companies, many iron and steel enterprises have seen a sharp decline in profits in the first half of the year, and the degree of losses has increased. Some enterprises even rely on government subsidies. Turn around.

　　Facing the pressure of the market, China Iron and Steel Association once advocated the "three no production" for enterprises: no production without a contract, no delivery without money, and no sales below the manufacturing cost. However, to solve the problem, we must solve the root cause, and effectively control overcapacity is the fundamental. Only when the problem of overcapacity is completely controlled can the industry usher in new development.

　　In the elimination of backward production capacity, some incomprehensible situations have also occurred. For example, listed companies such as Camel, Shandong Iron and Steel, Lotus Monosodium glutamate, and Chenming Paper are among the companies that have eliminated outdated production capacity, but several companies have stated that eliminating outdated production capacity will not have a negative impact on the company's operations and performance.

　　For example, Camel Co., Ltd. said: "According to the national environmental protection requirements and the company's product positioning, Camel Special Electric has all switched to lithium-ion power batteries. The elimination of backward production capacity this time belongs to the normal production organization and product structure adjustment of the subsidiary, and the production capacity is relatively small. The company's production and operation have no obvious impact." Since the company itself can digest the backward production capacity and make adjustments consciously, is it necessary for the government to give financial support to the enterprise to eliminate the backward production capacity? Even the production capacity that some enterprises have already eliminated still appear on the list of outdated production capacity of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is suggested that the relevant government departments should improve the supervision mechanism as soon as possible, and severely punish the enterprises that commit fraud.

　　In fact, the elimination of outdated production capacity is also of great significance for protecting the environment. With the general emphasis on social responsibility by enterprises, it is an inevitable trend to eliminate those production capacity with heavy pollution and low efficiency. According to the investigation by the environmental protection department, the contradiction between the excessive pollution load caused by labor-intensive enterprises and heavily polluting enterprises in the two river basins in my country and the limited self-purification capacity of the river has not been fundamentally improved, and the problem of structural pollution is prominent. 400, and the supporting pipeline network also needs to be improved, and environmental violations are more prominent.

　　It is also a way to use the market method to eliminate backward production capacity. Similar to the steel industry, the cement industry is also severely overcapacity. Le Feng, the world's largest cement manufacturer and chairman and CEO of Lafarge Group, once told reporters that there is no need to worry too much about overcapacity, because overcapacity will eventually lead to the survival of the fittest, which is a process of elimination. . However, it takes a long period of time to resolve backward production capacity through the market, and the administrative method may have immediate effect - the government's intervention does not mean directly participating in the operation and investment of enterprises. The government should make reasonable approvals, establish a new access system, and take economic control as The main switch to social control, and so on. The government should strengthen information disclosure and service functions to allow investors to make rational choices.

　　For some companies, the country's policy of eliminating outdated production capacity is not only not a bad thing, but also good news. The outdated production capacity eliminated by the state is mainly concentrated in some small and medium-sized enterprises that cannot meet the environmental protection indicators and technical indicators. Large companies can replace these outdated production capacity with their own production capacity. For these enterprises, it is a good time for expansion. However, it should be noted that the elimination of backward production capacity will also involve a series of livelihood issues. Enterprises should consider how to arrange the positions of employees of these backward production capacity production lines to protect the rights and interests of these workers.