New vision for key industries

The steel industry development strategy for the period up to 2030, with a vision to 2050, provides important orientations and opens up a new vision for this key industry.

Expectations to catch up with green standards

Vietnam's steel industry has grown strongly in recent years. If the production capacity in the 90s of the last century was only about 200,000 - 300,000 tons of steel/year, it has now increased to 20 million tons of crude steel/year, 28 million tons of finished steel/year, ranking 12th in the world.

However, this industry is currently facing many difficulties due to the decline in the real estate sector, leading to reduced demand. In the export sector, greening requirements are also identified as a major barrier.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Pham Cong Thao - Vice President of Vietnam Steel Association - said that to transform into green production, the steel industry needs support, the industry alone cannot do it. For example, to green production, right from the input such as raw materials or energy, everything must be green.

Steel industry development strategy: New vision for key industries. Photo: Hoa Phat

The nature of steel production is to cause large emissions. “ Vietnam has set a target of Net Zero by 2050, which sounds long, but for the steel industry it is not long because the pressure for green transformation is very large, requiring large capital, so the State needs to support capital, investment incentives, and reduce interest rates ,” said Mr. Thao.

With the above challenges, the Ministry of Industry and Trade's development of a new strategy for steel industry development is expected to create positive changes, helping the industry keep up with market changes.

The important highlight is that the strategy orients the steel industry towards green, circular, low-carbon emission development, effectively responding to climate change and protecting the environment. In particular, by 2050, the steel industry will develop in harmony with the environment, in line with other economic sectors; focusing on steel production with modern technology, converting to green energy to decarbonize the economy and making an important contribution to achieving the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

With many important directions

Besides green growth, in the Steel Industry Development Strategy for the period up to 2030, with a vision to 2050, the Institute for Industry and Trade Policy and Strategy Research, Ministry of Industry and Trade, also developed many other important orientations for the industry.

Specifically, in terms of production development, the strategy guides the development of plans and proactively sources raw materials for pig iron and sponge iron factories from domestic and imported iron ore sources to provide raw materials for steel mills. Use digital technology in the production process to increase efficiency, product quality, optimize production processes, management, encourage recycling and reuse of steel products to reduce environmental impact, and increase reuse of resources.

The development orientation of steel products focuses on 4 main product groups: Construction steel; steel pipes; HRC hot rolled steel coils, cold rolled steel; metal-coated and color-coated steel including galvanized, color-coated, Al-Zn alloy.

Develop enterprises in a modern and sustainable direction; continue to invest in enterprises with new technology to ensure reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, meeting the requirements of competitive steel products in international integration. Improve production quality and efficiency, strengthen management, and apply quality standards to products.

Regarding investment attraction and technological innovation for steel industry development, the orientation is to create an open mechanism to attract production investment from all economic sectors. Building a synchronous infrastructure to facilitate investors. Creating conditions for cooperation between the government and private enterprises to invest in important infrastructure projects such as seaports, railways and roads to support the import-export and transportation activities of the steel industry.

Invest in developing new modern production technology that consumes less energy and emits low CO2, aiming to have enough carbon certification to participate in the global steel supply chain. There are incentive and preferential policies for businesses to invest in advanced technology in steel production, apply automation, IoT and other green technologies to increase efficiency and minimize environmental impact, implement smart production action plans in the steel industry, steel production.

Develop specialized industrial parks or industrial clusters dedicated to the steel industry, providing necessary infrastructure and facilities to attract investors and enterprises. Rely on leading enterprises to promote multi-facility cooperative production and realize the optimization of the entire industry supply chain. Build a large-scale data center for the steel industry to improve management capabilities. Support start-ups and start-ups in the steel technology field through providing investment capital, technical support and training programs.

In addition, the strategy also orients other important contents for steel industry development, such as: Human resource development; improving competitiveness for products and enterprises; developing infrastructure for steel industry development; allocating space for steel production and processing...

According to the draft Decision approving the Steel Industry Development Strategy for the period up to 2030, with a vision to 2050, which is being consulted by the Institute for Strategy and Policy Research on Industry and Trade, the target for 2030 is an average annual growth rate of the steel industry of 5-7%; consumption of 270-280 kg/person/year; steel production capacity of domestic metallurgical plants increases to meet increasing demand, reaching 40-45 million tons per year by 2030. In the period up to 2050, the average annual growth rate of the steel industry is approximately 5%; consumption of 360-370 kg/person/year; Vietnam's steel output in 2050 is 65-70 million tons.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/chien-luoc-phat-trien-nganh-thep-tam-nhin-moi-cho-nganh-cong-nghiep-trong-diem-347196.html