中国将落实钢铁减产以减少冬季污染

China is set to implement some of its strictest cuts to steel production this week in a bid to head off choking winter pollution and further consolidate a fractious industry.

中国将在本周实施一些最严格的钢铁减产措施，以防止令人窒息的冬季空气污染，并且进一步整合这个难以控制的行业。

The first wave of production cuts will halve the rate of steel production in the north-eastern city of Tangshan, the largest steel-producing city in China. This will ultimately affect 20m metric tonnes of steel, the equivalent of about 7.5 per cent of national annual production.

第一波减产措施将使中国最大钢铁生产城市唐山的钢产量减半。这将最终影响2000万吨钢铁，相当于全国年产量的7.5%左右。

Three other key steel-producing cities — Shijiazhuang, Anyang, and Handan — are to announce similar cuts. In addition, producers will also be mandated to reduce overall coking coal production by 30 per cent.

另外三个关键产钢城市—— 石家庄、安阳以及邯郸—— 也将宣布类似的减产目标。此外，生产企业还将被要求将炼焦煤总产量减少30%。

The production cuts are part of a series of production suspensions in China’s rust belt that will take effect within the next few months as environmental authorities chase public commitments to lower the concentration of particulate matter by 22 per cent this winter.

这些减产是中国“锈带”在未来几个月内将要落实的一系列暂停生产措施的一部分。目前环保部门正努力兑现今年冬天将颗粒物浓度降低22%的公开承诺。

About 70 per cent of electricity in north-east China comes from coal, leading to a sharp uptick in airborne pollutants during winter as central heating systems are fired up.

中国北方冬季采暖系统投入运行时，空气污染物激增。

Authorities have been more rigorously policing steel producers this year as the country cracks down on overcapacity and pollution in heavy industry. China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection is mounting another round of plant inspections in Beijing, Tianjin and 26 other cities until January to enforce more stringent emissions guidelines.

随着中国整治重工业产能过剩和污染严重问题，今年以来当局对钢铁生产企业进行了更严格的监管。中国环保部正对北京、天津和其他26个城市的企业展开又一轮强化督查，此轮督查定于明年1月结束，目的是执行更严厉的排放标准。

Tangshan, which produces less than 11 per cent of the country’s total steel output, has come under particular scrutiny. In March, a team of inspectors were sent by the central government to Tangshan to root out the false reporting of mill closures by local governments reluctant to obey shutdown orders.

钢产量占全国总量不到11%的唐山受到特别关注。今年3月，中央政府派出一个调查小组前往唐山，以解决不愿遵守限产令的地方政府虚报钢厂关闭的情况。

China has struggled to reduce its renowned smog over fears that tackling pollution could reduce economic activity and raise the number of unemployed.

中国在减少其出名的雾霾方面一直不顺利，因为有人担心防治污染可能减少经济活动，增加失业人数。

To mitigate these social effects and improve safety in the steel sector, regulators have instead pursued small, sometimes illegal producers while consolidating production among state-owned enterprises. The latest pollution cuts will further eliminate fringe players, leaving the country’s largest producers unscathed, say analysts.

为了缓解这些社会影响，并提高钢铁行业的安全性，监管机构在整合国有企业生产的同时，重点整治那些小规模的、有时属于非法经营的生产企业。分析师们表示，最新的防污染减产措施将进一步取缔边缘参与者，而中国各大生产企业将不受影响。

“With these production suspensions, smaller producers are the ones that have been wiped out each time pollution or production needs to be reduced,” says Jonas Short, the head of China research at NSBO, an investment bank. “Bigger producers are almost immune from these sorts of pollution cuts and actually benefit as smaller competitors are wiped out.”

“这些停产限产措施的特点是，每一次需要减少污染或产量时，都是较小规模的生产商遭到淘汰，”投资银行蓝橡资本(NSBO)中国问题研究主任乔纳斯•肖特(Jonas Short)表示，“更大的生产企业基本上免受这些防污染减产措施的影响，实际上反而受益于较小的竞争对手被迫出局。”

Meanwhile, China’s state-owned steelmakers have been posting record-high revenues as they have been constrained by supply-side cuts, which have boosted demand and thus prices for steel domestically.

近来国有钢铁企业纷纷录得创纪录水平的营收，因为供给侧削减提振了需求，进而推高了国内钢材价格。

Meanwhile, prices for low grade iron ore, one of the key ingredients for steel, have plunged more than 18 per cent in the past month, further buffering the country’s biggest steel producers. With lower cost of inputs, China’s largest state-owned steel producers are expected to enjoy more robust profit margins even as capacity cuts continue to reduce overall output.

与此同时，低品位铁矿石(钢铁的主要成分之一)价格在过去一个月下滑逾18%，这让中国各大钢铁生产企业得到进一步缓冲。原材料成本降低意味着，各大国有钢铁生产企业即使在产能削减继续降低产量的情况下，也将受益于更为强劲的利润率。