Inner Mongolia to eliminate blast furnaces below 1200m³ and converters below 100 mt during the 14th Five-Year Plan period

SHANGHAI, Mar 23 (SMM) — The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission, the Department of Industry and Information Technology, and the Energy Bureau issued a notice on "Several Safeguard Measures for Ensuring Completion of the Energy Consumption Dual Control Objectives and Tasks during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period”.

Iron and steel

Pig iron blast furnaces for steelmaking with an effective volume of less than 1,200 m³, steelmaking converters with a nominal capacity of less than 100 mt, and electric arc furnaces with a nominal capacity of less than 100 mt (50 mt for alloy steel) will be withdrawn before the end of 2023 in principle. Those that meet requirements can undergo capacity replacement based on the national standard. According to SMM statistics, as of the end of 2020, Inner Mongolia had a total blast furnace capacity of about 30 million mt, including 12 blast furnaces of less than 1,200 m³, with a capacity of 9.3 million mt. The converter capacity totalled 36 million mt, including 10 million mt of converter capacity of less than 100 mt. These small blast furnaces and converters have already involved capacity replacement

Coke

Top-loading coke oven with the height of coking chamber less than 6 meters, stamp-charging coke oven with the height of coking chamber is less than 5.5 meters, and coking projects with an annual capacity of less than 1 million mt will be withdrawn before the end of 2022 in principle. Those that meet requirements can undergo capacity replacement based on the national standard. The coking capacity in Inner Mongolia totalled 52 million mt, of which 12.43 million mt does not meet the regulations.