SHANGHAI, Oct 26 (SMM) – In recent years, Wu'an, Hebei province has made every effort to promote the transformation supply-side structural reforms in the steel industry through capacity reduction, acquisition, reorganisation, and relocation. It plans to commence the upgrade of blast furnaces under 1,000 m³ and converters under 100 mt by the end of 2020 and complete the upgrades by the end of 2022.

There are currently 14 steel companies in Wu'an (Puyang, Wenfeng, Jinding, Yuhua, Mingfang, Xinjin, Wen'an, Yuanbaoshan, Longfengshan,Xinshan, Xinghua, Xinhui, Yongcheng, Xinxing Ductile Iron  Pipes), with 44 blast furnaces in total.

In 2020, these 14 steel mills will be integrated into 5 steel groups, namely Puyang Iron and Steel, Xinxing Ductile Iron  Pipes, New Jinan Iron and Steel, Taihang Iron and Steel, and Mingbin Iron and Steel. Longfengshan Casting will maintain its existing 1.68 million mt/year high-purity pig iron production capacity, while Xinhui Metallurgical Industry will eliminate blast furnaces and build electric furnaces.

Relocation from city areas to industrial park will be delayed from the end of 2020 to 2021 due to COVID-19. Construction of the industrial park has begun. By the end of 2022, Wu’an will have  27 million mt of iron capacity and  25 million mt of steel capacity.