Recently, at the 2022 (the fourth) Stainless Steel and New Energy Materials Summit Forum, Chai Zhiyong, executive vice president of Stainless Steel Branch of China Special Steel Association, said that China’s stainless steel industry has witnessed rapid development in the past two decades. This year for China, will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a may realize the curve of overtaking, let China lead the world from now on the opportunity, the development and application of new energy industry, will inevitably produce a new demand for stainless steel materials.

As an important part of China’s steel industry, stainless steel has achieved rapid development in recent years. In the past 22 years from 2000 to 2021, China’s stainless steel production increased from 1.6 million tons to 32.63 million tons. It grew by nearly 53 times, with a compound annual growth rate of 20%. During the same period, the total production of stainless steel in the world only increased from 19.74 million tons to 58.29 million tons, only increased by 2.95 times. China, a rising star, accounts for nearly 60% of the world’s stainless steel, up from 3% at the beginning of the century.

China’s stainless steel industry has now achieved a comprehensive coverage of varieties and specifications, complete processing and manufacturing and related supporting facilities. The stainless steel industry provides high-quality materials and services for downstream users, ensuring the material demand in the rapid development of China’s industrial manufacturing industry.

In the global stainless steel crude steel production is increasing at the same time, leading to the contradiction between supply and demand began to reflect, the fierce competition pattern has been relatively formed. In this grim situation, we in the two aspects of smelting technology and the production cost got a comprehensive promotion, we vigorously develop the laterite nickel ore smelting production using RKEF nickel pig iron and red, successful application in the field of stainless steel smelting production, greatly reducing the costs of our raw materials production and refining the manufacturing cost, at the same time also realized the CO2 emissions, It provides strong support for our competitiveness in the international market. Stainless steel equipment localization and localization, greatly reduce the enterprise investment cost, shorten the construction cycle.

The development of stainless steel industry today, conventional stainless steel materials have met the needs of our daily industrial production. Middle and high-end products gradually realize import substitution and supply to the international market. For example, chemical Marine duplex stainless steel has been fully localized, duplex stainless steel reinforcement has been exported to Sweden – the birthplace of duplex stainless steel. Hand-

torn steel, pen tip steel, nuclear power steel and other high-end products have broken the international monopoly.

This year by the macroeconomic weakness, the international political situation and the ongoing epidemic and other multiple factors, the first half of this year, China’s stainless steel production has seen a decline of about 5%, affected by inventory and downstream demand slowdown, the third quarter of the production decline is more obvious, the national stainless steel production decreased by nearly 1 million tons quarter-on-quarter. Annual stainless steel production is expected to appear more than 6% of the decline, annual production is expected to be about 30 million tons.

The present our country has put forward “double carbon” goals, green steel industry development is imperative, stainless steel as a green, long life, can be one hundred percent recycled materials, will radiate vitality, new stainless steel production capacity in recent years has been released, actively develop and expand downstream stainless steel market, completes the enterprise and the downstream users of docking will be the responsibility of the industry associations and enterprises.

This year is set to be a remarkable one. The world has just had an unusually hot summer. One obvious effect of the war between Russia and Ukraine is that people in some areas are likely to be frozen this winter because of energy shortages. All these, whether natural or man-made disasters, the world is more eager to the wider development and application of new energy. I think this is a golden opportunity for our country, a chance to make a bend and overtake cars, a chance to put us ahead of the world for once and for all. It makes me very happy to see such a topic today. What makes me more happy is that the development of new energy industry will inevitably generate new demand for stainless steel materials. At the same time, if the use of new energy to produce stainless steel for CO2 emission reduction and ecological improvement, it is undoubtedly a revolutionary support. Let’s work together and see.