China Steel Research Articles

Superior Creep Resistance and Remnant Strength of Novel Tempered Ferritic-Martensitic Steels Designed by Element Addition.

The in situ combustion (ISC) technique is promisingly applied in heavy oil recovery, whereas the operation inevitably causes high temperature and high pressure for a long duration in the thermal recovery well. As a critical component, oil casing, traditionally made of plain carbon steel in China, generally suffers from poor creep resistance and degraded remnant strength under such a harsh environment, which leads to frequent casing damage and inferior recovery efficiency. In this study, a strategy was adopted to tackle the issue by adding chromium (Cr) element into the plain carbon steel. We designed two types of novel steel with the respective addition of 1 wt.% and 13 wt.% Cr element into plain carbon steel for oil casing. Surprisingly, the trace addition of Cr element with 1 wt.% effectively lowered the creep rate in a creep test at 600 °C and 400 MPa and maintained high remnant tensile strength after creep. More significantly, prior creep history dramatically enhanced remnant strength when Cr element was added up to 13 wt.%. After a long-term creep time of 96 h, the samples were conferred by a stress increment of ~92.5 MPa (~11.0%) relative to the creep-free counterparts, whereas the value was reduced by ~158.4 MPa (~17.8%) for plain carbon steel under the same deformation conditions. Such superior mechanical performances in the Cr-doped steels are mainly ascribed to precipitation retardation of carbides and sluggish precipitate coarsening, which continuously favors a precipitation–strengthening effect in steel. These findings provide a fundamental understanding of precipitation response and creep behaviors and, more importantly, enable the development of high-performance steels used in the field of unconventional petroleum and gas resources.

An Investigation Into Magnetic Properties, Sintering Shrinkage Characteristics, and Formability of Isotropic Barium Ferrite Permanent Magnets

In this study, traditional ceramic process was used to prepare isotropic barium-based ferrite permanent magnets. The lower grade iron oxide powder (Fe₂O₃) manufactured by China Steel Corporation (CSC) was used as the main raw material to prepare calcined magnetic powders with different Fe₂O₃/BaCO₃ mole ratios (5.3&#x2013;5.65). It can be seen from the experimental results that the remanence (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$B_{\mathrm {r}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) decreases with the increase of mole ratio, but the intrinsic coercivity (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\mathrm {i}}H_{\mathrm {c}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) shows the opposite trend. On the other hand, the sintering radial shrinkage rate (Sh-D) and sintering height shrinkage rate (Sh-H) both decrease as mole ratio increases, but the required molding pressure is higher. On condition of Fe₂O₃/BaCO₃ mole ratio &#x003D; 5.4, Fe₂O₃ &#x003D; 81.38 wt&#x0025;, BaCO₃ &#x003D; 18.62 wt&#x0025;, the magnetic properties of the final sintered magnet can reach: <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$B_{\mathrm {r}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> &#x003E; 2250 G, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\mathrm {b}}H_{\mathrm {c}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> &#x003E; 1950 Oe, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\mathrm {i}}H_{\mathrm {c}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> &#x003E; 3300 Oe, (<i>BH</i>)_max &#x003E; 1.15 MGOe, which are obtained on the basis without expensive lanthanum and cobalt. In terms of the operability, the sintering shrinkage rate Sh-D &#x003C; 15.1&#x0025; and required molding pressure of magnetic powder &#x003C; 2.5 ton/cm² both meet the specifications of the permanent magnet industry. Above results successfully overcome high-cost technical bottlenecks in the past in order to achieve high characteristics and formability, and comprehensively improve magnetic properties, operability, and production efficiency. The low-cost isotropic barium-based ferrite permanent magnets with good magnetic properties and operability realized in this work have been practically used in high-efficiency small automobiles motors, such as electric rearview mirror motor.

Research on carbon productivity and its spatial convergence of steel industry in China.

The Global-Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index was applied to analyze the carbon productivity in steel industry (SICP) of 29 provinces in China from 2006 to 2019, and then, the SICP was decomposed into technical efficiency change index (TC) and technical progress index (EC). On this basis, the spatial effect is introduced into the traditional convergence model to investigate the spatial convergence of SICP. The empirical results show that: (1) the overall carbon productivity of China's steel industry is at a relatively low level, showing a slow growth trend. (2) The average value of the GML index of SICP is higher than 1, showing obvious inter-provincial and regional heterogeneity. Compared with TC, EC is the leading factor that promotes the increase of SICP. (3) The spatial absolute and condition β convergence of SICP exist in the whole country and the three major regions, but the σ convergence feature is not significant. The addition of spatial factors speeds up the convergence trend, and the speed of spatial absolute β convergence is about 3 times that of the classical convergence model. At the same time, the conditional convergence rate is significantly faster than the absolute convergence, which is closely related to the differences in influencing factors such as the industrial structure, economic development level, human capital, energy consumption intensity, and R&D investment among regions. There is still much room for improvement in carbon productivity in China's steel industry, and investment in scientific research must be increased in order to achieve the upgrading of the industrial structure and technological innovation. The existence of spatial convergence requires strengthening the joint reorganization of steel enterprises between provinces and regions, making full use of the spatial spillover effects of production technology, and realizing regional green and coordinated development.

Estimating the efficiency and potential of China's steel products export to countries along the “Belt and Road” under interconnection: An application of extended stochastic frontier gravity model

This study measures the export efficiency and potential of China's steel products to countries along the “Belt and Road” and comprehensively explores the impact of five dimensions of “interconnection” on export efficiency. Thus, we constructed an extended stochastic frontier gravity model (SFGM) based on the yearly data of steel product trade, per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), and common language between China and 54 countries along the “Belt and Road” during 2003–2018. Meanwhile, using quantitative data on multiple indicator levels in the five dimensions of “interconnection”, “one-step method” trade inefficiency model was constructed to quantitatively evaluate the impact of “interconnection” on export efficiency and potential. The extended SFGM can make up for the traditional gravity model's overlook of the subjective trade resistance factors that are challenging to quantify, and the “one-step method” trade inefficiency model can avoid the error of the “two-step method” measurement results. The empirical results showed that in the extended SFGM, the positive impact of China's per-capita GDP on export efficiency was stronger than other variables, such as the GDP of countries along the route and common language. The inhibitory effect of China's GDP on export efficiency was more significant than other variables, such as the per-capita GDP of countries along the route and geographical distance. In the trade inefficiency model, free trade agreement(FTA), which represented the degree of policy coordination, played the most significant role in promoting export efficiency. Institutional distance posed a significant obstacle to trade efficiency, while the impact of cultural distance was not significant. Hence, this study discusses corresponding policy recommendations to provide useful ideas for further expanding the potential of steel products trade between China and other countries along the “Belt and Road.”

Prediction of tempo-spatial patterns and exceedance probabilities of atmospheric corrosion of Q235 carbon steel across China.

To reduce the losses caused by the atmospheric corrosion of carbon steels, it is important to establish a prediction model to determine the corrosion rate of carbon steels in natural environments. In this study, a prediction model of atmospheric corrosion of Q235 carbon steel (PMACC-Q235) in China was established by coupling the mean impact value algorithm and back propagation artificial neural network. Tempo-spatial patterns of corrosion rates in five long-exposure time categories across China were analyzed. Ten main factors affecting the atmospheric corrosion of Q235 were identified. The corrosion rates in a single year were similar (approximately 30 μm/a) and larger than those for 2 (25.30 μm/a) and 3 years (21.66 μm/a). The spatial corrosion rates in the northwestern areas were primarily lower than those in southeastern coastal areas. This could be influenced by climatic factors, such as temperature, humidity, and precipitation. All corrosion rates reached the C2 level (>1.3 μm/a), and there was some possibility that they reached higher corrosion levels. The largest probability for the C3 level in all periods was an average of 0.91, and that for the C4 level was 0.83. Spatially, higher probabilities were mainly located in the southern area, especially in Hainan, located in the south and surrounded by sea. Corrosion rates largely varied among climatic zones, and mean corrosion rates in the tropical monsoon climate zone were the largest (average of three periods 33.39 μm/a). SO2 and soluble-dust fall had the largest impact on the variations in the corrosion rates among different climatic zones.

The Impact of International Anti-dumping of Iron and Steel Industry on China's Iron and Steel Industry and Countermeasures

The Impact of International Anti-dumping of Iron and Steel Industry on China's Iron and Steel Industry and Countermeasures

Dynamic spillovers and dependencies between iron ore prices, industry bond yields, and steel prices

We examine the spillovers and dependencies between iron ore prices, bond yields of mechanical equipment, infrastructure construction and housing, and car industries, and steel prices by using the spillover index and copula model over the period 2011–2021. Our results show that compared with bond yields, iron ore prices are primary contributors of price spillovers and highly comparable with China's steel prices. Notably, the magnitudes of correlations and risk transmissions from bond yields of related industries to steel prices shifts over the period before the implementation of China's policy to cut overcapacity in steelmaking, after the policy implementation and before the outbreak of coronavirus, and after the outbreak of coronavirus. Because of high price spillovers from iron ore to steel prices and iron ore-steel relationship, policymakers in the steel industry should consider more supply-side policies to mitigate market risks. Meanwhile, risk-averse investors should increase the share of bonds of related industries.

Environmental and economic sustainability of key sectors in China's steel industry chain: An application of the Emergy Accounting approach

Increasing urbanization day–by–day requires new housing and transportation infrastructures. As a consequence, demand for steel – a basic material for buildings construction as well as for vehicles and railroads – would also increases. This study applies Emergy Accounting (EMA) to assess the Chinás steel industry environmental performance and to identify key application sectors. Subsequently, this study calculates emergy–based indicators capable to assess the present economic performance, environmental sustainability, and land resource appropriate utilization. Building on these indicators, changes of sustainability scenarios in key application sectors are also investigated, with special focus on increased use of recycled steel. The results show that the environmental impacts of steel use in downstream sectors, specially in the Housing and Vehicles Sectors, are significantly higher. Furthermore, the downstream sectors also have a very large requirement for embodied land. Additionally, the Emergy Benefit Ratio (EBR) shows non-negligible advantages to China derived from importing raw iron from abroad at international market prices. Finally, when the recycling rate of scrap steel increases, the performance of downstream sectors improves, with the Vehicle sector showing the most significant changes. Although the benefits of steel-based economy to society are clear, multidimensional sustainability concerns and international competition for primary resources necessitate a transition towards increased recycling and innovative materials within a strictly enforced “circular economy” policy.

Time-varying spillovers and dependencies between iron ore, scrap steel, carbon emission, seaborne transportation, and China's steel stock prices

We have examined the time-varying price spillovers and dependencies between iron ore, scrap steel, carbon emissions, seaborne transportation, and China's steel stock by using price spillover and copula models to cover the period 2011–2020. More specifically, the Platts, the MBIOI, and the Chinese Iron Ore spot prices (CIOPI) are analyzed and compared. Our results show that of the three iron ore price indexes, the Platts is a primary contributor of price spillover and highly comparable with China's steel stock prices. The scrap steel, seaborne transportation, and carbon emission prices incur relatively low price spillovers and moderately link with China's steel stock prices. In addition, the time-varying price spillovers and links are sensitive to economic shocks stemming from China's policy implementation to cut overcapacity in steelmaking and the spread of coronavirus. Our results may suggest that the Platts is still the benchmark spot price in determining China's steel stock prices. The results might also guide market investors to hedge the financial risks in the commodity market and help policymakers design appropriate financialization policies for the iron ore and steel markets.

Wind Technologies for Wake Effect Performance in Windfarm Layout Based on Population-Based Optimization Algorithm

The focus of this study is under the auspices of China Steel Corporation, Taiwan, in carrying out the national energy policy of 2025 Non-Nuclear Home. Under this policy, an estimated 600 offshore wind turbines will be installed by 2025. In order to carry out the wind energy project effectively, a preliminary study must be conducted. In this article, we investigated the influence of the wake effect on the efficiency of the turbines’ layout in a windfarm. A distributed genetic algorithm is deployed to study the wind turbines’ layout in order to alleviate the detrimental wake effect. In the current stage of this research, the historical weather data of weather stations near the site of the 29th windfarm, Taiwan, were collected by Academia Sinica. Our wake effect resilient optimized windfarm showed superior performance over that of the conventional windfarm. Additionally, an operation cost minimization process is also demonstrated and implemented using an ant colony optimization algorithm to optimize the total length of the power-carrying interconnecting cables for the turbines inside the optimized windfarm.

Can exporting resolve overcapacity? Evidence from Chinese steel companies

The global overcapacity in the steel sector has triggered growing trade disputes and tensions worldwide. However, it is controversial whether steel overcapacity should be a systemic trade concern and if exporting can resolve steel overcapacity. This paper investigated the nexus between exporting and overcapacity at the firm level. We estimate a measure of capacity utilization (CU) for a large sample of Chinese steel companies. By statistically comparing the estimated CU distributions, we found that, before exporting, exporters have more excess capacity than non-exporters. Moreover, we found that exporting has no significant impact on a firm's CU ex-post. As steel overcapacity has become a global issue, the weak demand in the export markets is far from being adequate to absorb excess capacity and improve the capacity utilization of exporting firms. Our study implies that encouraging export cannot act as a strategy to resolve overcapacity, although China's steel production overwhelmingly feeds the country's domestic market.

How material stocks sustain economic growth: Evidence from provincial steel use in China

The rapid economic development in emerging economies is deeply coupled with massive material use, which poses serious challenges to the environment. Thus, the desired transition towards sustainable society requires a more complete understanding of the interplay of material stock and economic development. To investigate how the productivity of materials evolves as the economy grows, we develop a modified Cobb-Douglas production function model by incorporating steel stock as one input factor and conduct a panel regression analysis based on China's provincial-level data from 1990 to 2016. Our empirical results indicate that steel stock plays a vital role, almost equivalent to labor and non-steel capital stock, in economic growth in China, and output elasticity of steel stock, which reflects its productivity, increases with economic development but might decline at a very developed stage. Potential factors leading to such variations in steel stock productivity are further explored by an extended model. It is found that industrialization and urbanization levels contribute positively to the output elasticity of steel stock while the existing stock level plays an opposite role. As industrialization and urbanization levels hit the upper limit when the economy matures, we predict that China's steel stock productivity will reach a plateau or start decreasing, depending on the future path of investment in materials.

Do iron ore, scrap steel, carbon emission allowance, and seaborne transportation prices drive steel price fluctuations?

We examine the sensitivity of China's steel price movements to iron ore, scrap steel, carbon emission allowance, and seaborne transportation prices over the period 2010–2020. More specifically, the price spillover, the dependence structure, and the spillover risk between iron ore, scrap steel, carbon emission allowance, seaborne transportation, and China's steel prices are analyzed in a multivariate framework, vine copula, and conditional risk setup. Our results demonstrate that before and after the implementation of China's policy to cut overcapacity in steelmaking, China's steel prices are mainly subject to iron ore prices. Our results have potential implications for policymakers to exploit market incentives to regulate steelmakers' investments and capacity in steelmaking.

Steel industry of China in 2020 and the world crisis

The crisis of the world economic system, erupted in the end of 2019 against the background of COVID-19 expansion resulted in considerable drop of the world steel products production practically in all the countries of the world. Decrease of steel production began in the IIH of 2019, mainly in July-August of 2019 and further in March-April of 2020. In the IQ of 2020, the world steel production declined by 1.4% down to 443 million tons comparing with the analogue period of 2019. At that China demonstrated growth by 1.2%, while in the EC counties the decrease accounted for 10%, in North America counties – by 4%, in South America countries – 7.1%, other countries of Asia, Africa and CIS also demonstrated the decrease. The dynamics of prices variation on some steel products, iron ore presented, which give the idea of the market state and tendencies of its variation in 2019–2020. In China in April of 2020 after cancellation of quarantine measures, a restoration of the industry began, the economy of China transferred from decline to growth and an active growth of domestic consumption of steel products got a significant effect not only on the volume of its production, but also made corrections in China’s behavior at the world market. As a result of year 2020, steel production in China exceeded one billion tons – 1054.4 million tons, which is 5.2% more comparing with 2019. Production of finished products increased also, import of iron ore into China in 2020 accounted for 1172 billion tons, which is 9.5% more comparing with 2019. As a result of 2020, the steel companies of China exported 53.7 million tons of steel, which is 16.5% lower than the 2019 index. Further the Chinese export will be contributed by an increase of demand at the world market and cancellation of restriction measures, imposed by some countries. While at all the regions of the world the crisis resulted in termination of some projects or their delays, in China against the background of the pandemic, several companies did nor cancel their investment plans as well as construction and commissioning of new plants was going on. Under conditions of the crisis the support of the state was very important, since the demand declined in all the industries, therefore many countries took urgent measures for stabilization of economies and support of population. Within the period of the pandemic, the China government bodies elaborated some measures to overcome its negative effect on the economy. In particular, the measures include allocation of money to stimulate the domestic consumption of steel products. In total in 2020 it was planned to invest about 800 billion of yuan (about USD 115 billion) in capital assets. According to forecasts, in 2021 comparing with 2020, the production and apparent consumption of steel in China will increase approximately by 2%, actual demand will increase by higher rate. The steel products with high added value will be in higher demand, including flat rolled products, rolled products of special steels, seamless pipes etc.

Experimental study on the cumulative damage constitutive model of high-performance steel Q345GJ under cyclic loading

GJ series steel is a new type of high-performance structural steel, which has emerged in China steel construction, and it has been widely utilized in steel-framed building structures. To investigate the low cycle fatigue performance and cumulative damage behaviors and find a suitable constitutive relationship of GJ series steel under cyclic loading, a total of eighteen Q345GJ steel low cycle fatigue experiments have been carried out. The mechanical behavior of Q345GJ steel were discussed, including monotonic loading behavior, hysteresis loading behaviors and energy dissipation capacity. Based on the cyclic behavior of GJ series steel, a modified cumulative damage model was recommended. Then, with comparison of the Q345GJ tests data (including the data in public papers) under various loading systems, the model proposed in this paper is proved correct and can be used to simulate the cyclic behavior of Q345GJ members.

An Analysis of Global Iron Ore Resource Market Trend in the Post-COVID-19 Period

Iron is the most widely used metal in China. There have been many changes in the international iron ore market due to the covid-19. Analyzing the reasons for the changes in the international iron ore supply, demand and market structure and predicting the future trends are of great significance for the stable supply of iron ore. This paper first analyzes the global steel production, iron ore supply and price trends under the covid-19 and believes that the global iron ore supply and demand pattern is further concentrated, showing a pattern of countries, two 60%. That is to say, China's steel production will further improve its global share, approaching 60%;Australia's supply share in the global iron ore shipping market will further increase, approaching 60%, because of the covid-19. Secondly, this paper predicts the changing trend of China's and global steel demand in the next 2-3 years, and believes that the main reason for the increase in China's steel production in recent years is the country's need for stable economic growth. China's steel production will remain high in the next 2~3 years, but in the long run, China's iron ore demand will slow down after a period of time. Finally, this paper analyzes the global iron ore price trend and believes that the global iron ore price will rise and fall to less than 100 US dollars/ton in the fourth quarter of 2020. The iron ore price will slowly fluctuate and fall down to 60~80 US dollars/ton in the next 2~3 years. © 2021, Science Press. All right reserved.

The Chinese steel market transformation influenced by the economic recession

Since the beginning of 2020, sharp changes in China's economy have affected virtually all sectors of the country's production. Temporary decline in China's steel production and demand due to the coronavirus outbreak and associated restrictions may lead to the increased production of these goods in other countries and increased steel stocks stored in warehouses, which would have a negative impact on the world steel prices. The virus concentration in China, following a high steel production growth and exports since 2003, has created a demand vacuum throughout the region. At the same time, the world steel stocks are quite high and can compensate for the decline in steel production in China, which will affect the market transformation in whole. However, it should be borne in mind that the Industrial Revolution penetrates the entire added value chain, defining a set of technological solutions in metallurgy, which improves the prospects for further industry development and strengthening positions after a stagnation period. In this context, the dynamics of major economic indicators with regard to steel in China is relevant to study, which will allow to determine the short-term metallurgy development trends and the world steel market dynamics in general.

Improving Evaluation of Energy Policies with Multiple Goals: Comparing Ex Ante and Ex Post Approaches.

Sustainability policies are often motivated by the potential to achieve multiple goals, such as simultaneously mitigating the climate change and air quality impacts of energy use. Ex ante analysis is used prospectively to inform policy decisions by estimating a policy's impact on multiple objectives. In contrast, ex post analysis of impacts that may have multiple causes can retrospectively evaluate the effectiveness of policies. Ex ante analyses are rarely compared with ex post evaluations of the same policy. These comparisons can assess the realism of assumptions in ex ante methods and reveal opportunities for improving prospective analyses. We illustrate the benefits of such a comparison by examining a case of two energy policies in China. Using ex post analysis, we estimate the impacts of two policies, one that targets energy intensity and another that imposes quantitative targets on SO2 emissions, on energy use and pollution outcomes in two major energy-intensive industrial sectors (cement, iron and steel) in China. We find that the ex post effects of the energy intensity policy on both energy and pollution outcomes are very limited on average, while the effects of the SO2 emissions policy are large. Compared with ex ante analysis, ex post estimates of benefits of the energy intensity policy are on average smaller, and differ by location in both sign and magnitude. Accounting for firm-level heterogeneity in production processes and policy responses, as well as the use of empirically grounded counterfactual baselines, can improve the realism of ex ante analysis and thus provide a more reliable basis for policy design.

The impacts and potential mechanisms of credit support with regard to overcapacity: Based on theoretical and empirical analyses of steel enterprises

Credit support is crucial to the expansion of production capacity, and the procyclical nature of bank credit activities will have a profound impact on the formation and evolution of excess capacity. Because steel enterprises represent a basic industry with a high degree of relevance, research conclusions based on the steel industry will provide general theoretical support and decision guidance for related research on other overcapacity industries such as coal, cement, flat glass, electrolytic aluminum, and ships. Based on the data of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2002 to 2013, this paper uses the cost function and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) method to measure the capacity utilization of China's steel enterprises and discusses the influence of bank credit support on the overcapacity of these enterprises as well as the transmission mechanism of this influence. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) Credit support significantly and strongly reduces the capacity utilization of steel enterprises. Although “credit discrimination” has widened the capacity utilization gap between state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises, credit support has a far more marginal impact on non-state-owned enterprises than on state-owned enterprises. (2) Credit support has accelerated the accumulation of capital in steel enterprises, but it has not caused a significant increase in capital quality or the technological level; this low level of expansion is particularly prominent in non-state-owned enterprises. (3) The phenomenon of “bank-enterprise symbiosis” existing in the allocation of credit resources means that the worse the enterprise's operating efficiency is, the greater the amount of credit resources that are available, and this obstacle to the exit of production capacity is more obvious in state-owned enterprises.

Competitive Neutrality of State-owned Enterprises in China's Steel Industry: A Causal Inference on the Impacts of Subsidies

This study investigates whether subsidies to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China’s steel industry are distorting competitive neutrality. The Subsidy and Countervailing Measures Agreement of the World Trade Organization defines “specific” and “harmful” subsidies as being subject to discipline because they distort the allocation of resources. During a recession in the steel industry between 2008 to 2015, China produced excessively and exported aggressively at a lower price. This study hypothesizes that subsidies given by local governments to specific SOEs with undefined conditions softened the budget constraints of these SOEs and that the market equilibrium price would have been lower had no subsidy been provided. Using data from the financial statements of listed steel and iron firms and other relevant sources, I find that firms with operating deficits received subsidies that were large enough to compensate for their deficits. This preferential treatment of these specific SOEs induced them to engage in price cutting behavior, harming competitive neutrality in the market.