整合和去产能 中国钢企上半年扭亏为盈

China’s steelmakers have reversed last year’s crippling losses to turn a profit for the first half of 2016 amid government pressure to consolidate and cut capacity, fuelling hopes of global industry recovery.

由于政府大力推动整合和去产能，中国钢企扭转了去年的巨额亏损，在2016年上半年实现盈利，引发全球行业复苏希望。

Member companies of the China Iron and Steel Association, accounting for about 80 per cent of total Chinese production, reported a combined net profit of Rmb12.6bn ($1.9bn) for the six months through June — up more than fourfold from the same period last year, according to association president Ma Guoqing.

中国钢铁工业协会(China Iron and Steel Association)会长马国强表示，今年上半年会员企业总计实现126亿元人民币（合19亿美元）的净利润，同比增长4倍多。中钢协会员企业占到中国产能总额的80%。

Speaking at CISA’s annual meeting, Mr Ma, who is also chairman of Wuhan Iron & Steel Group, said that despite price fluctuations many companies had “accurately predicted market trends” and capitalised on the upswings.

同时也是武汉钢铁(Wuhan Iron & Steel)董事长的马国强在中钢协年会上表示，尽管价格波动，但许多公司“精准分析市场趋势”，抓住了市场上行机遇。

A global recovery in steel prices over the past six months has rekindled optimism about an industry struggling to recover following a fall in prices last year of almost 30 per cent, according to the Platts World Steel Price index.

过去6个月全球钢价复苏，这让人们对去年钢价暴跌之后艰难复苏的钢铁行业重燃希望。普氏世界钢铁价格指数(Platts World Steel Price index)显示，全球钢价去年下跌近30%。

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel producer, said last week that it was “cautiously optimistic” about prospects for the remainder of 2016, though noted that structural overcapacity is still a serious headwind for the industry.

全球最大钢铁公司安赛乐米塔尔(ArcelorMittal)上周表示，对2016年剩余时间的前景“谨慎乐观”，尽管该公司指出，结构性产能过剩仍然是钢铁业面临的强劲逆风。

However, the jump in Chinese steelmakers’ profitability might be a “one-off hit” of inventory destocking, which “releases cash and flatters profits”, said Sebastian Lewis, a Shanghai-based analyst at Platts.

然而，普氏驻上海分析师塞巴斯蒂安•刘易斯(Sebastian Lewis)表示，中国钢企盈利能力提升可能只是去库存带来的“一次性提振”，因为去库存“释放了现金，美化了利润”。

The Chinese government keeping production low was key to the recovery in profits, said Hu Yanping, an analyst at Umetal, an industry information company in Beijing.

北京联合金属网(Umetal)分析师胡艳平表示，中国政府化解过剩产能是利润复苏的关键。

Overproduction of steel resulted in crippling losses last year for Chinese steelmakers whose production far outstripped domestic demand, forcing them to export the surplus to minimise losses. Despite the turnround for China’s steel giants, exports this year have continued to surge, with 457m tonnes of steel products leaving China’s ports in the first half, up 9 per cent from the same period last year.

钢铁产能过剩导致中国钢企出现巨额亏损。这些钢企的产能远远超过国内需求，迫使它们出口过剩产量以尽可能减少损失。尽管中国钢铁巨头扭亏为盈，但今年出口继续飙升，今年上半年有4.57亿吨钢材离开中国港口，较去年同期增长9%。

Beijing has steadily increased the pressure on the country’s steelmakers to rein in capacity and help bring the industry back to health.

中国政府持续施压，要求钢企遏制产能，帮助整个产业恢复健康。

Li Keqiang, China’s premier, said last week that only 30 per cent of coal and steel reduction targets for 2016 had been achieved so far.

中国总理李克强上周表示，2016年削减煤炭和钢铁产能的目标迄今只完成了30%。

There have been signs that Beijing, armed with new tools including tightened environmental standards and the threat of suspended financing, might be starting to get serious about a long-awaited consolidation in the industry.

有迹象显示，带着收紧环保标准和暂停融资威胁等新工具，中国政府可能开始认真对待外界期盼已久的钢铁业整合。

One telling indication was a joint restructuring announced in late June by Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron & Steel Group, China’s second and fourth-largest steel companies, respectively — seen by industry experts as talks about merging. However, the task of cutting capacity is “formidable”, says Mr Ma.

一个说明问题的迹象是，今年6月末宝钢集团(Baosteel Group)和武汉钢铁宣布联合重组，这被业内专家视为就合并举行谈判。宝钢和武钢分别是中国第二和第四大钢企。然而，马国强表示，化解过剩产能任务依然“十分艰巨”。