Raw material prices rise Transformer companies face challenges

Nowadays, the price change of raw materials has become a key point for the survival of transformer companies. Zhao Zongchang, general manager of Beijing Sanlian Transformer Co., Ltd., repeatedly said in an interview that at present, they have no great skills in dealing with the pressure of raw material prices, and the only way is to reduce their profits. He said that in the situation of soaring raw materials, the manufacturers that can maintain are winners. He told reporters that raw material prices have caused Chinese transformer companies to lose their original price advantage, and coupled with the continuation of price wars by domestic companies, the situation of domestic transformer enterprises can be imagined.

The transformer manufacturing industry itself is characterized by a long lead time, generally 3 to 6 months, even longer than 1 year. Some contracts of large-scale companies such as TBEA and Tianwei Baoji even signed up in 2012 , and the production task of another major domestic transformer manufacturer, Xidian Group West Transformer, is also very saturated. However, the price of the products in the contract was calculated based on the raw material prices at that time, and most manufacturers did not expect the price of raw materials to rise so fast. Therefore, its performance is not fully reflected.

As the main raw material for the production of transformers, cold-rolled oriented silicon steel sheets are facing a crisis of global shortage. In the country, only Wuhan Iron and Steel Company produces cold-rolled oriented silicon steel sheets for transformers. The annual production of Wuhan Iron and Steel is less than 300,000 tons, and China’s transformer enterprises for one year The demand is at 600,000 tons, and the dependence on imports is high. In the world, the only steel companies that can produce oriented silicon steel sheets are Russia’s Viz-Stal and Novolipetsk , Kremlin Steel, Japan's Nippon Steel and JFE , AK Steel of the United States, and WISCO [5.25-4.55% ] Wait for a few large steel companies. With the transformation of power grids in countries such as the United States and Europe and the acceleration of power construction in India, the demand for cold-rolled oriented silicon steel sheets has increased significantly, and the Japanese market has reduced the proportion of exports, resulting in a significant reduction in the output of cold-rolled oriented silicon steel sheets in the world. The import volume of rolled oriented silicon steel sheets did not increase for a time.

Currently, the oriented silicon steel sheet production line of the second silicon steel plant invested by WISCO is the only oriented silicon steel sheet production line under construction in China. However, compared with the rapidly growing demand, the new capacity of WISCO cannot reduce the gap between domestic supply and demand.

In the second half or even longer period, the pressure on the cost of domestic transformer companies will not be weakened, and there will even be signs of increase. Under heavy pressure, some enterprises that produce middle- and low-grade products are bound to be difficult to sustain. It is not surprising that restructuring and integration within the industry are even bankruptcy. Therefore, companies take the high-end product line and build their own core business to become the development road. Several large domestic companies such as Tianwei Baoji and West China will open up competition in the research and production of high-end products through means such as technology introduction and extensive absorption of high-tech personnel. Through mergers and acquisitions and other means, we have continued to expand the scale and market share of the company. Larger enterprises have better negotiation skills with raw material suppliers and are beneficial to the reduction of business costs.

It is reported that the price of the new contract of Tianwei Change has already risen in an all-round way, and there is a certain space reserved for the increase. At the same time, the company has strengthened cooperation with Nippon Steel and Kawasaki Corporation of Japan, and signed a three- year supply agreement with Kawasaki. protocol. Some analysts believe that the company’s cost pressures are greatest in the second and third quarters. With the expansion of Tianwei Yingli’s second phase and Qinhuangdao Final Assembly Plant and Hefei Transformer Plant put into production, the pressure will be released in the fourth quarter. The unique advantages of West Transformer's products in DC transformers and reactors will also give it a head start in the transformation of the transformer industry.

The production of power transmission and transformation equipment of Wankele's wholly-owned subsidiary Shunde Electric has accounted for 70% of the company's main business, which is different from Tianwei's security change and Westward transformation. The company's main product, dry-type transformer, has a domestic market share of about 35% . Ranked first in the country. As the country's investment in power grid construction grows, the company can profit from it. The company plans to increase its output value from current 1 billion yuan to 1.85 billion yuan in the next three to five years. At the same time, the company also cooperated with Tsinghua University to develop reactive power compensation devices , and it involved a high starting point in the field of power grid control equipment. Shanghai Qixin Electric [17.610.00%] took another differentiation strategy, the main product amorphous alloy transformers accounted for 75% of the domestic market share. It is understood that the credibility of the Electric Group annual sales of 3% to 5% for research and development and quality problems, the acceleration of new product development to get rid of the competitors are also away from the risk.

In general, although the transformer industry will continue to face severe cost pressures in the future. However, as the country's efforts to build power grid projects have increased, it will surely create a number of high-quality transformer manufacturers, and technological advantages and scale advantages have become indispensable conditions for these advantageous enterprises.