In recent years, the domestic demand for cement has declined significantly. Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that domestic cement production in 2023 was 2.023 billion tons, down about 5% from the same period last year, and by the first half of this year, the decline in demand had expanded to 10.67%. With the decline of
demand and the prominent contradiction of excess capacity, the rationality of the new cement clinker production line has been questioned, but from the perspective of the healthy development of the industry, the necessary new line construction is still worth promoting.
The picture has nothing
to do with this article. 1. Reduction ≠ prohibition of new construction
. At present, domestic cement is facing an absolute surplus situation, which leads to vicious competition in the market and restricts the healthy development of the industry. Reduction development is imperative, but reduction does not mean prohibition of new construction. It is not a compulsory reduction in the number of production capacity in a regional market, but a reasonable planning of production line construction according to the actual situation of each regional market.
On the one hand, from the national policy level, the new line is not prohibited. According to the Measures for the Implementation of Capacity Replacement in the Cement and Glass Industry issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it is necessary to formulate a capacity replacement plan and implement capacity replacement for new and rebuilt cement clinker projects. Moreover, in the case of strict implementation of the capacity replacement scheme, on the whole, the total capacity after the new line is reduced.
On the other hand, the production capacity of areas with serious overcapacity is allowed to be transferred to areas with relatively scarce supply through capacity replacement, so as to build high-standard cement clinker production capacity. It not only promotes the upgrading of the industry, but also balances the regional market structure, avoids the long-term vicious fighting in some regional markets, and helps the industry return to normal development order.
2、 cement production line has its own life cycle
. Generally speaking, the life cycle of cement production line is about 30 years. During this period, even through continuous upgrading and transformation to extend the life cycle, the supporting mine resources, environmental protection, energy consumption and market competitiveness of the cement production line are still not as good as the new production line.
Therefore, some enterprises will choose to update their production lines through relocation or replacement in order to improve efficiency and efficiency.
Especially at present, under the background that the pace of green environmental protection upgrading in the cement industry is accelerating and the trend of green high-quality development is obvious, timely elimination, closure and replacement of some old and backward cement production lines are more in line with the development needs of the industry and the national policy of promoting the construction of ecological civilization.
Similarly, the Measures for the Implementation of Capacity Replacement in the Cement and Glass Industry also clearly points out that the energy efficiency of new production lines must meet the benchmark level of energy efficiency in the cement industry required by the Benchmarking Level and Benchmarking Level of Energy Efficiency in Key Industrial Areas (2023). In terms of reducing pollutant emissions, the new line is also more advantageous.
Low-carbon cement should be considered
from the carbon footprint of cement products. China's total carbon emissions in 2023 were 12.6 billion tons, of which 1.21 billion tons were from the cement industry, accounting for 9.6%, second only to the power and steel industries. Accelerating carbon reduction is the historical mission of every cement practitioner. Carbon reduction in
cement industry is not only reflected in energy saving, raw material and fuel substitution, carbon capture and other sources of carbon reduction, but also in ore mining, product transportation and other links.
Especially in terms of product transportation, the current market environment of the cement industry has changed a lot compared with the previous years. The original unreasonable production line layout has led to the need for long-distance transportation of cement products, which is also an important reason for the increase in carbon emissions. The additional carbon emissions may even exceed the carbon reduction generated by enterprises through energy saving and carbon reduction.
Data show that trucks emit between 95 and 235 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, depending on the type of vehicle and the type of fuel used. In addition, the regional market situation is too different, resulting in long-distance transportation of cement across regions, which will also increase carbon emissions in the transportation process.
Therefore, the industry should strengthen the consideration of "carbon footprint", scientifically and reasonably evaluate and manage the distribution of cement projects, and optimize the industrial layout under the premise of controlling the total cement production capacity, so as to truly achieve the goal of overall carbon reduction in the industry.
Generally speaking, the overcapacity of the cement industry is overall, but the necessary metabolism of the industry and the renewal of production lines are still necessary. The industry needs to seriously consider the life cycle of the production line and the carbon footprint of the product, treat the construction of the new line scientifically, and avoid "one size fits all".
