However, with the increase of the number of steel processing and distribution centers in China, how to make a reasonable division of labor and layout of processing centers in order to give full play to their functions has become a topic of concern in the industry. To understand these problems, we must first have a basic understanding of the basic characteristics of the construction of domestic steel processing and distribution centers and the development trend of domestic steel processing and distribution centers.
Construction of domestic processing and distribution center
General characteristics
Through comprehensive analysis, in recent years, the steel processing and distribution center mainly built by steel mills in China has the following main characteristics:
1. The construction speed and layout have been significantly accelerated. With the expansion of the production scale of high-grade cold-rolled and hot-rolled plate products in China's iron and steel enterprises, the construction of processing and distribution centers in large steel mills has developed rapidly in recent years to meet the requirements of end users. For example, Baosteel only built six in the seven years from 1993 to 2000, and so far it has reached 30.
2. The implementation of strategic alliances and joint ventures has become the mainstream. In order to use the management experience and channel development advantages of foreign-funded enterprises and powerful trading enterprises to resolve investment risks, it has become the mainstream for steel mills to jointly establish and implement strategic alliances in different ways. Among the steel processing and distribution centers built by the five major steel mills, joint venture construction accounts for 68.9%. The basic characteristics of joint venture construction of steel mills are:
First, foreign-funded enterprises or powerful state-owned trading companies with well-known brands and advanced distribution experience are preferred as partners. According to the analysis, among the 3 1 steel processing and distribution centers established by the five major steel mills through joint ventures, 19 processing centers were established through joint ventures with foreign-funded enterprises, accounting for 61.3% of the total number of joint ventures; Co-build a processing center with state-owned enterprises 12. Steel mills also have cases of joint venture with private trading enterprises to build processing and distribution centers, but relatively few.
Second, the proportion of end customers participating in investment and construction is not high. Among the five steel mills, there are only six steel processing and distribution centers, accounting for 13.3% of the total, including three in Baosteel, two in Angang and WISCO 1.
Third, the joint venture construction of steel mills is basically an absolute holding method. Among the 3 1 steel processing and distribution centers jointly built by the five major steel mills, all of them are controlled by steel mills; Except that Baosteel Arcelorè s is 38% owned by Baosteel and Baosteel Tianjin Baochuling is 40% owned by Baosteel, the rest are basically absolutely controlled by steel mills.
3. The purpose of steel mills to build processing and distribution centers. The purpose of building a processing and distribution center in steel mills is to strengthen the industrial chain construction between steel mills and downstream industries and improve the comprehensive competitiveness of steel mills. Through the processing and distribution centers distributed in the target market, we can first realize the "door-to-door, point-to-point" marketing service for terminal strategic customers; Secondly, extend the marketing channels through the processing and distribution center, increase the development of small and medium-sized customers in the target market, and realize investment appreciation and operating income through effective operation.
4. Gradually develop in the direction of deep processing. In order to meet the needs of customers in automobile, household appliances and other industries, continuously extend the service content for end customers and build a stable industrial chain with end customers, the construction of domestic processing and distribution centers has gradually developed into deep processing on the basis of the original cutting function. For example, in order to meet the needs of the third-phase project 1420 cold rolling mill, Baosteel invested in the construction of Shanghai Baoyi Canning Co., Ltd., which on the one hand enabled Baoyi cans to obtain high-quality and stable upstream raw materials supply, on the other hand promoted the continuous improvement of Baosteel's production and scientific research level of DI materials, and achieved good interaction and coordinated development.
5. The level of cutting and distribution technology and equipment has been gradually improved. In recent years, in order to adapt to the technical development and increasing service standards of the automobile, household appliances, shipbuilding and other industries, the processing and distribution centers built with large steel mills as the main investors are basically imported equipment (Italian Femi company, Korean Daxian company and Taiwan Province Weitai company), and their shearing accuracy has been improved from 0.5~ 1.0 mm to 0.2~0.3 mm, and the shearing speed has been increased from 60 m/min.
development trends
Affected by the rapid expansion of the production scale of high-grade cold-rolled products in China and the rapid development of new logistics industry, it is predicted that the steel processing and distribution in China will develop faster in the next few years, and the trend is as follows:
First, in order to meet the needs of the marketing strategy development of China's large iron and steel enterprises, the investment of large state-owned steel mills in the construction of processing and distribution centers will gradually increase. Therefore, the future processing and distribution pattern will be dominated by large steel mills, and foreign businessmen, traders and end customers will coexist and develop.
Second, with the development of steel processing and distribution centers of various investors in China and the gradual improvement of social service level, the processing and distribution with the investment of end customers as the main body will gradually decrease, and at the same time, the trend of end customers participating in the joint venture construction of steel mills will be obviously weakened, replaced by the strategic cooperation of steel mills to provide processing and distribution services.
Third, the main way for steel mills to participate in the construction of processing and distribution centers is joint venture construction. The first choice for cooperation is well-known foreign-funded enterprises with advanced processing and distribution management experience, as well as large steel trading groups with strong capital and market strength.
Fourthly, with the gradual improvement of the plate-strip ratio of domestic steel products (especially the development of high-grade cold-rolled products), processing and distribution scale, equipment level and service level, foreign-funded processing and distribution enterprises built in advance will face the competition and challenges of domestic processing and distribution enterprises. In order to reduce logistics costs and maintain a stable supply of raw materials and processing business, the momentum of foreign-funded enterprises actively seeking strategic cooperation with large domestic steel mills in processing and distribution will gradually emerge.
Several problems worthy of attention and consideration
The vigorous development of domestic processing and distribution industry has promoted the development of China's steel logistics and distribution, improved the efficiency of logistics and distribution, reduced logistics costs, strengthened the connection between steel production and trading enterprises and end customers, and extended the industrial chain of steel mills. At the same time, it has also raised many issues worthy of attention and consideration. The main performance is as follows:
1. Future development space and current local overcapacity problem. The data show that the general steel deep processing ratio in China is only about 10%~ 15%, while the comprehensive steel deep processing ratio in developed countries can reach more than 50%. According to this forecast, the steel processing and distribution market in China is very broad. However, due to the coexistence and development of various forms of steel processing and distribution mode in China, there is a contradiction between the processing and distribution capacity rapidly formed in recent two years and the terminal customers' own capacity, which leads to the excess processing capacity in local markets and the low operating efficiency of newly-built processing and distribution centers.
2. Project construction and system management. Processing and distribution is an important part of modern logistics system. The efficient operation of a processing and distribution center requires not only advanced and reliable hardware equipment as the foundation, but also management concepts, modern information means, stable supply-demand relationship and high-quality logistics management talents that are suitable for modern logistics distribution. At present, in the construction of processing and distribution centers, except for some large steel mills and foreign-funded enterprises, there are widespread problems of attaching importance to the investment and construction of processing equipment and neglecting the management and construction of software systems, especially the lack of high-quality talents.
3. Identify the market position, seek survival and development. After several years of development, the current situation of domestic plate processing and distribution centers is not only that there are more equipments for various investors and overcapacity in some areas, but also that steel mills and foreign-funded enterprises with strong strength have their own relatively perfect processing and distribution capabilities and strategic layout, and other new projects will face fierce market competition in the initial stage of production. Therefore, when determining the construction of new projects, we must first find our own market positioning and find our own "blue ocean" in the fierce competitive environment, otherwise it will be difficult to survive and develop.