I. Overview of the refractory industry

      1.Definition of refractories

      Refractory materials generally refer to inorganic non-metallic materials with a fire resistance above 1580 ° C. The price of magnesium carbon brick includes natural ore (refractory raw materials) and various products made according to certain purposes and requirements according to certain technological processes (refractory Products), has certain high temperature mechanical properties and good volume stability. Refractory materials are important basic materials involving high-temperature industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, petrochemicals, building materials, machinery, electricity, environmental protection and even national defense. The technological progress of refractories plays an irreplaceable key role in the development of high-temperature industries.

      2.Types of refractory materials

      Due to the wide variety of refractory materials and their wide range of uses, they have various classification methods. According to the application, it can be divided into refractory materials for blast furnace, open hearth furnace, converter, continuous casting, glass kiln and cement kiln.

According to the molding process, it can be divided into natural rock cutting saws, mud pouring, plastic molding, semi-dry molding and vibration, ramming, melt casting and other products.

      According to the shape of refractory products, it can be divided into shaped products, refractory mud, and unshaped refractory materials. According to the firing method, it can be divided into fired products, non-fired products, and fused cast products.

      According to chemical characteristics, it can be divided into three types: acidic, alkaline and neutral. Among them, the acidity is mainly refractory with silicon dioxide as the main component. The basic ones are mostly magnesium and calcium oxides. The neutral ones are three. Aluminum oxide, chromium trioxide, etc. can be divided into silicon products, aluminum silicate products, magnesium products, and carbon products according to chemical minerals.

      According to the degree of fire resistance, it can be divided into ordinary refractory materials with a refractory temperature between 1580 and 1770 ° C, advanced refractory materials with a refractory temperature between 1770 and 2000 ° C, special grade refractories with a refractory temperature above 2000 ° C, and a refractory temperature at 3000 ° C Above four categories of super refractory materials. Source: Sorted by Huajing Industry Research Institute

      3.Main uses of refractory materials

      Refractory is an indispensable basic material for high temperature industries. Refractories are mainly used in high-temperature processes in the fields of iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, chemical industry, electric power, environmental protection, aerospace and other fields.They are an important foundation and supporting material for the implementation of all high-temperature industrial new processes and technologies. High-efficiency production and energy-saving emission reduction play an important role. Source: Sorted by Huajing Industry Research Institute

4. Development of refractory raw materials

      China has a large number of natural refractory raw materials, especially alumina, magnesite and graphite. In recent years, China's refractory raw material output has developed rapidly, which basically meets domestic needs, while exports have also grown rapidly, especially high bauxite clinker, magnesia and graphite. More importantly, the quality of refractory raw materials has been improved to varying degrees, and gratifying progress has been made in the development of high-quality varieties.

      Analysis of the operating environment of China's refractory industry

      1. Analysis of investment in fixed assets across society

      From January to December 2018, the nation's investment in fixed assets (excluding farmers) was 6,363.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.9% over the previous year. The growth rate was the same as in January-November, and was 1.3 percentage points lower than the same period of the previous year. Source: National Bureau of Statistics

      Among them, from January to December 2018, the fixed asset investment in the steel industry increased by 13.8% year-on-year, and the growth rate increased by 0.8 percentage points from January to November 2018. The steel industry is a basic raw material industry. With the growth of investment growth, the demand for upstream refractories will also grow rapidly.

      2. Development policy of refractory industry

      In order to promote the development of China's refractory industry, the state has issued a number of related supporting industrial policies. Benefiting from the national energy-saving and emission-reducing industrial policies and the industrial structure upgrade of the high-temperature industry, the future market of the refractory industry is broad.

Source: Sorted by Huajing Industry Research Institute

      3.Technical environment of refractory industry

      The technological progress of the high temperature industry itself and the requirements for energy saving and consumption reduction have promoted the technological progress and industrial upgrade of the refractory industry. The development of the high-temperature industry requires that the consumption of refractory materials per unit product be reduced, and the requirements for the quality and performance of refractory products continue to increase. Therefore, the demand for traditional refractory materials will gradually decrease, but at the same time, it will provide new refractory materials with high technological content and high added value. It has broader market space and profit prospects, which is conducive to product upgrades, structural adjustments and efficiency improvements in the refractory industry.

Development status of the world's refractory industry

      At present, the global refractory output is about 40 million tons. China's refractory output accounts for about 64% of the global total refractory. Other production is mainly concentrated in countries and regions such as the European Union, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Source: Public data collation

      The United States is a larger exporter and importer of refractories. Import low-cost products and export high value-added products. Quantitatively, the United States is a net importer of refractories, although the net imports are small. In recent years, the United States has developed porous high-performance materials with thermal insulation function, resistance to metal melts, and excellent chemical erosion, which has promoted the development of functionalization and reduction of refractory materials.

      Japan and other countries have also developed high-performance alumina, zirconia fibers and their products that can be used at temperatures above 1500 ° C for a long time, and environmentally-friendly and ecologically degradable fibers with an application temperature above 1260 ° C.

      In recent years, Germany has increased the research on the design and preparation of advanced refractory materials with gradient structures and layered composite structures, aiming to achieve high-temperature industrial energy conservation and promote the development of functionalization, lightweighting and reduction of refractory materials.

      Fourth, the development of China's refractories

      1. China's refractory output

      Driven by the rapid development of high-temperature industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, cement and glass, the refractory industry has achieved both booming production and sales, increased benefits, significant product structure adjustment effects, and significantly enhanced market competitiveness. So far, it has become the world's refractories Major producer and exporter. China's refractory output and export volume have been steadily ranking in the world for many years, and have made great contributions to the development of the world's high-temperature industries.

      In 2018, the national refractory output was 23.45222 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.30%. In the first half of 2019, the national refractory output was 9.112 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 3.62%.

      Source: National Bureau of Statistics, organized by China Economic Research Institute

      In terms of product categories, the output of dense shaped refractory products in China in the first half of 2019 was 5.562 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 4.23%; the output of thermal insulation products was 246,200 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 15.22%; the output of amorphous refractory products was 3.2088 million Tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.48%.

      Source: National Bureau of Statistics, organized by China Economic Research Institute

      2. Analysis of refractory output in major provinces

      From the perspective of industrial distribution, China's refractory output is mainly concentrated in the three provinces of Henan, Liaoning and Shandong, and the output of the three provinces accounts for about 80% of the total national refractories. After more than ten years of hard work, Henan and Shandong have developed into the main production areas of aluminum-silicon refractories, and Liaoning has been the production base of magnesium refractories.

      Source: National Bureau of Statistics, organized by China Economic Research Institute

      3. The main problems in the refractory industry

      1. Serious overcapacity and chaotic market order

      The refractory industry is one of the earliest industries to enter the market. Due to the low entry barriers, the amount of investment can be large or small, and the production process of some products is simple, so the production capacity is relatively fast, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. The refractory industries in Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and other provinces with resource advantages have developed rapidly, and the refractory industries in coastal provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang have also formed a certain scale.

      However, the development of the refractories industry has gradually begun to show some signs of overcapacity, which is mainly manifested in structural excesses of varieties, mainly due to the oversupply of ordinary refractory products with low technological added value. In recent years, it has developed into a full overcapacity. That is to say, the high-end refractory products with high technological content and high added value are also in excess of demand, causing a serious surplus. Overcapacity will inevitably lead to disorderly competition among enterprises and chaotic market order. Downstream industries will continue to drive down purchase prices and unpaid defaults. Without a good operating environment, the company has been operating at a margin.

      2. Low industrial concentration

      According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, there are nearly 2,000 enterprises above the scale in the production of refractory raw materials and products, but there are only more than 100 refractory raw materials and products manufacturing enterprises with annual sales income of over 100 million yuan. In 2018, there were only 17 production companies whose main business income of refractory exceeded 1 billion yuan. The concentration of refractory industry has improved in recent years, especially during the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, but the small, large and scattered status quo has not been completely changed.

      3. The level of enterprise equipment is uneven, the level of automation is not high, labor productivity is low, product quality stability is poor, and technical resources are scattered. These aspects restrict the healthy and stable development of the industry to varying degrees.

      V. Analysis of the competition pattern of China's refractory industry

      The major international refractory manufacturers are: Austrian magnesium (RHI) company, Belgium VESUVIUS company, Japan's Kurosaki company (KROSAKI), Japan's Shinagawa White Refining Co., Ltd. (SHINAGAWA), Germany's LWB company , Japan's Tokyo Kiln Co., Ltd. (TYK), British Morgan Crucible Company (MORGANCRUCIBLE), France's Saint-Gobain Industrial Ceramics Company (SAINT-GOBAIN), etc., among which OMG and Vesuvius are the world's large-scale refractories

      In 2018, there were 17 production enterprises in China whose main business income of refractories exceeded 1 billion yuan, of which 5 were over 3 billion yuan and 3 were over 2 billion yuan. In addition, Beijing Tongda, Sinosteel Refractory and Tangshan Guoliang's main business income also reached nearly 1 billion yuan.

      Analysis of Import and Export Data of Chinese Refractories

      Driven by market demand, China's refractory industry has developed rapidly, production technology and equipment have been continuously improved, product quality has been continuously improved, and the variety structure has been continuously improved. So far, the variety and total volume of China's refractory materials not only meet the needs of domestic high-temperature industrial production and development, but also the export volume has increased year by year. The market has covered more than 150 countries and regions such as Asia, Europe and the Americas, and the export volume has been for many years. Stay in the world. In the first half of 2019, the total import and export trade of refractory raw materials was US $ 2.023 billion, a decrease of 9.59% over the same period of the previous year. Among them, the export trade value was 1.837 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 12.12%; the import trade value was 186 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 26.47%.

      1. Export data analysis of refractory raw materials

      In 2018, China's export of refractory raw materials was 4.5495 million tons, a decrease of 3.10% year-on-year; in the first half of 2019, China's export of refractory raw materials was 2.1146 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.55%;

      2. Analysis of export data of refractory products

      In 2018, China's export volume of refractory products was 1.8504 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.54%. In the first half of 2019, China's export volume of refractory products was 827,100 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.99%.

      Development Trend of Refractories in China in the Future

      1. Development trend of shaped refractories

      As refractories have a wide range of applications, the development of refractories is undoubtedly an important way to promote the development of production levels. With the advancement of science and technology, new requirements continue to appear in the production process of high temperature resistant industrial equipment, which requires a lot of time and investment. Efforts to develop research and production of refractory materials. Unshaped refractories are new types of refractories with high-performance structural materials. Unshaped refractories not only have huge advantages in application, but also have short production cycles and save Energy, good integrity, strong adaptability, good comprehensive use and other advantages. Therefore, the amorphous refractories will have a larger application market in the coming period.

      2.Broad prospects for new insulation and refractory materials

      Insulation materials are important high-temperature engineering materials, not only for the iron and steel industry, but also for the heat insulation and energy efficiency of other high-temperature devices. High-performance thermal insulation materials need to have both high-efficiency thermal insulation, light weight and high strength, and resistance to chemical corrosion. With the further development of new thermal insulation and refractory materials in the future, the market prospects are broad.

      3.High-quality refractories will become a trend

      China is a producer and consumer of refractory materials in the world. At the same time, China's active role in the field of refractory research and development has become increasingly apparent. With the worldwide attention to low-carbon economy and environmental protection, and the difficulties of effective use of natural resources, the Chinese refractory industry must strengthen innovative work in raw materials and basic research to adjust the product structure; promote the integration of the refractory industry, Promote the refractory industry concentration, thereby improving the energy efficiency and use efficiency of natural resources of refractories, and achieving the sustainable development of China's refractories industry, in order to provide high-quality refractory products with high added value and meeting individual needs.