China has drastically increased the speed at which it wants to achieve carbon neutrality. CISA now reports that 620 million tons of annual production have already been converted to low emissions. Germany again reports shortages of wood and steel, threatening its recovery.
Chinese steel producers accelerate the pace of low-emission transformation
Chinese steelmakers are stepping up efforts to shift to ultra-low emission production as the country pushes for greener economic growth.
CISA: 620 million tons of steel already low-emission
As of the end of February, 229 companies have converted or are in the process of converting their 620 million tons of crude steel capacity to ultra-low-emission operations, according to He Wenbo, executive director of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association (CISA).
Steel industry: investment cost of about $41 billion.
For the steel industry to fully realize ultra-low emissions, investment of about 260 billion yuan (about $40.7 billion) is needed, which would increase operating costs by more than 50 billion yuan a year, He said.
Energy consumption reduced by nearly 60%
According to CISA data, major iron and steel companies reduced their total energy consumption per ton of steel by 58 percent from 2015 to 2020.
China combats pollution extensively
Making the steel industry and other energy-consuming industries greener is an important part of China’s broader efforts to reduce pollution and combat climate change.
Source: china.org.cn
Shortages of timber and steel lead to construction stoppages in Germany
Supply shortages of timber, steel and insulation materials are causing construction stoppages in Germany and threatening to slow the country’s recovery from the coronavirus slump, construction associations said Friday, May 28, 2021.
High global demand for steel and timber
The supply problems are linked in part to the strong economic recovery in many countries, which has driven up global demand for lumber, steel and other building materials.
Supply chains turned upside down
“With the economic recovery in the U.S. and China, international supply chains have been turned upside down,” the German Construction Federation (ZDB) said in a statement.
The assessment of the German Construction Association (ZDB) is supported by the report of the Federal Association of German Steel Traders (BDS). The BDS again reported that flat steel inventories held by German stockholders fell further in April and thus remain at a historic low. This is due to a continuing shortage in the market.
Source: zdb.de, stahlhandel.com
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