整合和去產能 中國鋼企上半年扭虧爲盈
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.
由於政府大力推動整合和去產能，中國鋼企扭轉了去年的鉅額虧損，在2016年上半年實現盈利，引發全球行業復甦希望。
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.
中國鋼鐵工業協會(China Iron and Steel Association)會長馬國強表示，今年上半年會員企業總計實現126億元人民幣（合19億美元）的淨利潤，同比增長4倍多。中鋼協會員企業佔到中國產能總額的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.
同時也是武漢鋼鐵(Wuhan Iron & Steel)董事長的馬國強在中鋼協年會上表示，儘管價格波動，但許多公司“精準分析市場趨勢”，抓住了市場上行機遇。
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.
過去6個月全球鋼價復甦，這讓人們對去年鋼價暴跌之後艱難復甦的鋼鐵行業重燃希望。普氏世界鋼鐵價格指數(Platts World Steel Price index)顯示，全球鋼價去年下跌近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.
全球最大鋼鐵公司安賽樂米塔爾(ArcelorMittal)上週表示，對2016年剩餘時間的前景“謹慎樂觀”，儘管該公司指出，結構性產能過剩仍然是鋼鐵業面臨的強勁逆風。
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，普氏駐上海分析師塞巴斯蒂安•劉易斯(Sebastian Lewis)表示，中國鋼企盈利能力提升可能只是去庫存帶來的“一次性提振”，因爲去庫存“釋放了現金，美化了利潤”。
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.
北京聯合金屬網(Umetal)分析師胡豔平表示，中國政府化解過剩產能是利潤復甦的關鍵。
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.
鋼鐵產能過剩導致中國鋼企出現鉅額虧損。這些鋼企的產能遠遠超過國內需求，迫使它們出口過剩產量以儘可能減少損失。儘管中國鋼鐵巨頭扭虧爲盈，但今年出口繼續飆升，今年上半年有4.57億噸鋼材離開中國港口，較去年同期增長9%。
Beijing has steadily increased the pressure on the country’s steelmakers to rein in capacity and help bring the industry back to health.
中國政府持續施壓，要求鋼企遏制產能，幫助整個產業恢復健康。
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.
中國總理李克強上週表示，2016年削減煤炭和鋼鐵產能的目標迄今只完成了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.
有跡象顯示，帶着收緊環保標準和暫停融資威脅等新工具，中國政府可能開始認真對待外界期盼已久的鋼鐵業整合。
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.
一個說明問題的跡象是，今年6月末寶鋼集團(Baosteel Group)和武漢鋼鐵宣佈聯合重組，這被業內專家視爲就合併舉行談判。寶鋼和武鋼分別是中國第二和第四大鋼企。然而，馬國強表示，化解過剩產能任務依然“十分艱鉅”。
