Old state-owned enterprises rejuvenate with new vitality, reform irrigates the "flower of technology", China Securities Journal | Xinhua News Agency | Science and Technology
Beijing, June 10th (Xinhua) - The China Securities Journal published an article on June 10th titled "Old State Owned Enterprises Revitalize with New Vitality and Reform, Watering the Flower of Science and Technology". The article states that in recent days, reporters from China Securities News have visited the Nanfen Open pit Mine of Benxi Iron and Steel, the Qinhuangdao 32-6 Intelligent Oilfield of CNOOC, and the Qinyang Power Generation Branch of State Power Investment Henan Electric Power Co., Ltd., witnessing the old state-owned enterprises shining with new vitality through reform and innovation, blooming with the "flower of technology".
Open pit mines release restructuring dividends
Covering a total area of 20.91 square kilometers, the mining area is over 3500 meters long from north to south, 1750 meters wide from east to west, and has a height difference of 600 meters... Looking down from the mountains, the Nanfen open-pit mine located in Nanfen District, Benxi City, Liaoning Province is magnificent. This is not only the largest single iron ore in Asia, but also the main raw material base of Bensteel Group. Its iron ore is known as "ginseng iron" due to its unique endowment of low phosphorus and low sulfur.
The Nanfen open-pit mine has huge reserves and can effectively hedge against international iron ore price fluctuations, which is an important guarantee for enhancing the competitiveness and influence of Ansteel and Benxi Steel. "The mine currently has a reserve of about 1 billion tons, of which 230 million tons can be mined from open-pit mining until 2037. After transitioning to underground mining in 2037, there are still nearly 800 million tons of reserves. Currently, more than 51% of Bensteel's iron ore comes from here," said Li Bin, the manager of Nanfen open-pit mining.
After several processes, "ginseng iron" is transformed into steel for automobiles and household appliances. Entering the Third Cold Rolling Plant of Benxi Iron and Steel, production lines are operating in an orderly manner, and workers are remotely controlling production in the central control room. This factory can provide the widest and highest strength cold-rolled sheet for automobiles and the highest strength hot-dip galvanized sheet for automobiles in China.
In 2021, the restructuring of Ansteel and Bensteel was completed, and Bensteel became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ansteel Group. Now entering the third year after restructuring, the dividends of reform continue to be released.
Based on performance, in 2022, Bensteel Group achieved a total profit of 1.02 billion yuan and a net profit of 489 million yuan. In the first quarter of this year, production and operation achieved a successful start, and all four categories and seven indicators completed the progress plan.
In terms of production efficiency, the capacity utilization rate of the star production line at Benxi Steel Plate Cold Rolling Plant has reached 105% -125%, the production capacity of automotive plates has increased by 27%, and the qualification rate of outer plates has increased by 19.60%. For the first time in history, it has entered the international first-class automotive production supplier platform, and the trial production of a new product of cold-rolled oxidation resistant and uncoated hot pressed formed steel has been successful, filling the world gap.
Looking at vitality, "the three system reforms have provided a greater platform for employees who want to do things, can do things, and can accomplish things." Guo Peng, a first level technician in the third hot rolling production area of Benxi Iron and Steel Plate Hot Rolling Plant, said, "For example, my apprentice is the top scorer in the group's technical competition. By competing for technical management positions through this three system reform, we can better leverage his strengths."
"One son falls, the whole is alive." Yang Wei, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Bensteel Group, described the transformation of Bensteel Group after the restructuring of Anben. Yang Wei said that the restructuring of Anben has become a classic case of the three-year action plan for state-owned enterprise reform, which not only reshapes the industrial pattern of China's steel industry, but also involves major reform practices such as central enterprise restructuring of local state-owned enterprises, mixed ownership reform, and Northeast revitalization. It has explored a new path for the restructuring and reform of China's super large state-owned steel and iron enterprises, and as a result, Bensteel has completely freed itself from the passive situation that has lasted for many years and truly entered a virtuous development track.
Promoting intelligent transformation of offshore oil fields
The journey of the sun and moon, if it comes out of it. The starry Han is brilliant, if it comes from within. The vast Bohai Sea not only conquered literati and scholars, but also harbored infinite energy treasures.
China Securities News reporter boarded a helicopter and departed from Tianjin Tanggu Airport. After a 40 minute flight, the offshore oil and gas platform began to come into view. On the vast expanse of Bohai Bay, the yellow steel structure of the oil and gas platform is very prominent.
The "Offshore Steel City" with eight legs and twelve piles - the Qinhuangdao 32-6CEPI platform is the size of two football fields. Its main function is to process crude oil extracted from the seabed, and the processed crude oil is ultimately transported to the Bohai Century FPSO for further processing.
According to Sun Hao, the director of the Qinhuangdao 32-6 CEPI platform, the Qinhuangdao 32-6 oilfield is located in the central waters of the Bohai Sea. It is the first complex fluvial heavy oil oilfield with a reserve of over 100 million tons, with an oil bearing area of 41.27 square kilometers and a total reserve of 208 million tons. It has three management centers, CEPI, CEPJ, and Bohai Century. Since its production in 2001, the oilfield has been steadily producing over 1.5 million tons of crude oil for 22 consecutive years. The target for oilfield production in 2023 is 2.01 million tons.
The intelligent transformation has revitalized the old oil fields with over 20 years of mining history. In October 2021, China's first offshore intelligent oilfield construction project, the Qinhuangdao 32-6 Intelligent Oilfield Project, was fully completed and put into operation. The platform has over 400 intelligent cameras, over 26000 data collection points, and real-time production data acquisition 24 hours a day. It collects over 100000 pieces per second, with an annual data volume of up to 6TB. These real-time production data are aggregated to form a big data lake, achieving intelligent management such as early warning diagnosis, active optimization, and decision-making assistance.
In addition, drones and inspection robots are widely used in daily work in oil fields. In the main distribution room of the 32-6CEPI platform in Qinhuangdao, the inspection robot can automatically identify the instrument status of the distribution panel, collect real-time partial discharge information, and monitor toxic and harmful gases.
The increasingly mature technology of offshore oil exploration, development, and production cannot be separated from the surging momentum brought about by reform. Lin Jiangong, Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Party Group of CNOOC, introduced that the three-year action plan for CNOOC's reform has a total of 130 measures, involving 10 parts, 45 specific tasks, and 72 specific measures. As of the end of October 2022, all reform tasks have been completed.
The central task of increasing reserves and increasing production is expected to achieve new results. According to the person in charge of CNOOC Tianjin Branch, it is expected that the annual crude oil production will be 33.4 million tons in 2023, maintaining a good momentum of increasing production by 5% annually, and striving to discover another 100 million ton oil field.
Thermal power units demand power from reform
With a length of 226 meters and a width of 219 meters, a single arch design is adopted to increase coal storage capacity. In the coal yard of Qinyang Power Generation Branch, "black gold" is piled up into several small mountains, with a coal storage capacity of nearly 380000 tons, approaching full capacity, making sufficient preparations for the upcoming peak summer season.
In 2015, the 2 × 1 million kilowatt unit project of Qinyang Power Generation Branch was invested and constructed by State Power Investment Henan Company. It is a key thermal power construction project of Henan Province and State Grid Investment during the 13th Five Year Plan period. However, in the first full operating year after its operation in 2021, Qinyang Power Generation Branch incurred a loss of 440 million yuan, and in 2022, it also incurred a loss of 208 million yuan.
The mechanism is inflexible, the allocation is unreasonable, the old employees are dissatisfied, and the young people lack enthusiasm... Like most traditional power companies, the aging enterprises urgently need to increase vitality and improve efficiency.
Reform is like a catalyst that activates new driving forces for enterprise development. On the one hand, in terms of organizational reform, enterprise management has become more efficient in slimming down and strengthening the body. "Qinyang Power Generation Branch implemented organizational restructuring, reducing and merging three departments; implemented middle-level cadres downsizing, streamlining 9 personnel; implemented management personnel downsizing, and 11 management personnel actively applied to go to frontline production positions." said Qiao Yongsheng, General Manager of Qinyang Power Generation Branch.
On the other hand, efforts should be made to reform the salary system and widen the income gap. "Qinyang Power Generation Branch has established and improved a linkage between enterprise profits and income, differentiated distribution, performance contracting, and immediate incentive mechanism. After the reform, the income gap between the same position has reached 1.5 times, and the highest income gap between different positions has reached 8 times." Qiao Yongsheng introduced.
At the same time, actively promote cost reduction and efficiency improvement, and enhance the endogenous driving force of development. For example, the turbine and generator casings of Qinyang Power Generation are made of special metal materials and require professional anti-corrosion techniques. Over the years, there has been a significant expenditure on anti-corrosion work. In order to save production costs, the company's steam turbine team independently studied the anti-corrosion technology on the surface of steam turbines and generators, repeatedly experimented and explored the paint ratio, and completed the generator painting with only 20000 yuan. The work effect reached the professional team standard, and the cost reduction was nearly 30000 yuan. The company rewarded 40% of the profit increase amount.
In addition, accelerating intelligent transformation is also an important part of improving efficiency. In the intelligent laboratory, robots are systematically performing operations such as shaking, bottle opening, sampling, weighing, and sample loading. Zhang Yan, an intelligent control specialist at the Fuel Quality Inspection Department of Qinyang Power Generation Company, introduced that robot testing can replace personnel in completing analysis projects such as heat generation, water ash, volatile matter, total sulfur, and element analysis. It can complete 30 coal sample testing tasks every 8 hours, which is more than twice the efficiency of manual testing.
A series of reforms have brought development dividends to enterprises. From January to April this year, the Qinyang branch accumulated a profit of 36.38 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 104 million yuan, setting a record for the highest profit in the same period in three years.
