The Asean Iron and Steel Council (AISC) is urging the region’s governments to ban the entry of Chinese induction furnaces commonly used for the production of substandard steel products.
In a news statement, AISC told their respective governments to implement a crackdown on furnace facilities imported from China. These induction furnaces, the council said, are responsible for low-quality steel products that are not only unsafe to use for construction, but also destructive to the environment.
Beijing rolled out a measure that eliminated the use of these steelmaking machines last year.
However, the program permitted the use of these furnace facilities for the purpose of foundry industry that uses it as melting equipment to produce various types of casting products; in the production of ferroalloys with specific properties; and in stainless steel and high alloy steel production process.
In spite of the crackdown on these induction furnaces, the AISC said China has yet to issue a law restricting the export of this apparatus.
“Just as in the case of finished steel products, [the] Asean has also become a preferred destination for the export of the obsolete and unwanted equipment from China,” the council said.
According to the AISC, there has been a rise of reported importation of this furnace facility to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. “Our main concern arising from the above development is that [the] Asean is becoming a dumping ground for these obsolete and outdated machinery and equipment, which, because of their inherent technology limitations and constraints, could adversely impact the orderly development of the iron and steel industry in the region,” the council argued.
As a resolve, the AISC is asking Asean leaders to look into the option of prohibiting the entry of these steelmaking machines into their respective countries. The council is also calling for the strict implementation of China’s restriction on the use of these induction furnaces.
The AISC said the substandard steel products born out of these furnace facilities are unsafe for construction use. “Unlike steelmaking through the electric-arc furnace [EAF] process, which is the predominant technology favored by established steelmakers in [the] Asean, induction furnace lacks refining capability to remove harmful elements in liquid steel,” the council said.
Aside from this, these induction furnaces are also reported to consume as high as 800 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for every ton of steel it produces. This is far expensive as compared to the EAF counterpart that averages about 450 kWh for every ton of steel it manufactures.
The AISC also noted the environmental consequences of having this apparatus for the production of steel products.
“Induction furnace facilities lack proper environmental control and are not equipped with waste gas-treatment system,” the council said.
“As a consequence, the process releases harmful gases and generate high degree of pollutants to the environment. EAF, on the other hand, adopts advanced technology with strong environmental control. It usually comes with excellent fume extraction and good waste-management system,” the AISC added.
The AISC claimed there are still about 600 of these furnace facilities in China as of last June. The combined capacity of these induction furnaces was at 120 million tons of steel, but its total output in 2016 was around 30 to 50 million tons.
Beijing has been trying to resolve the issue since 2002, but was not able to completely address it due to its rampancy in different parts of China. Chinese authorities refer to the steel products from these induction furnaces as di tiao gang, or ground steel.
Source: ellenicshippingnews.com
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