Overview of Anshan Alloy Pipe Factory

Large steel complex. Located in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, China. Its predecessor was South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd., which began construction in 1916. After Japan surrendered, most of the equipment was demolished by the Soviet Union. After 1948, Anshan Seamless Steel Pipe Factory was established.
Anshan Alloy Pipe Factory currently has more than 200000 employees, with 152000 workers and 114000 employees affiliated with Ansteel, including nearly 30000 scientific and technological personnel. Covering an area of 120 square kilometers, it has 8 secondary companies, 16 factories and mines (including mining, beneficiation, sintering, ironmaking, steelmaking, billet opening, rolling main production, as well as auxiliary production departments such as chemical, refractory, machine repair, power, transportation, construction, and comprehensive utilization), more than 10 research and design departments, 9 universities and vocational colleges, and 13 comprehensive hospitals. The company has a total equipment weight of 930000 tons, a fixed asset value of 10.1 billion yuan, and an annual production capacity of 25 million tons of iron ore, 7.7 million tons of pig iron, 8 million tons of steel es52100, and 5.6 million tons of steel. The total industrial output value is 4.9 billion yuan. There are over 600 types of steel produced, with over 20000 specifications, supplying more than 30 industries nationwide such as metallurgy, coal, and electricity, and exporting to Hong Kong and Macao regions, Japan, Southeast Asia, and other regions around the world.
Anshan Alloy Pipe Factory is a large-scale state-owned enterprise in China, which also contains abundant magnesite, limestone, clay, manganese ore, etc., providing rare auxiliary raw materials for black metallurgy.
The predecessor of Ansteel was Anshan Iron Works. In 1948, Anshan Iron and Steel Company was established. During the First Five Year Plan period (at the end of 1953), three major projects including the large-scale steel rolling plant of Anshan Iron and Steel Company were completed and put into operation. The Northeast Industrial Base centered around Anshan Iron and Steel Company was formed. On July 9 of the following year, construction began on the ruins, and production quickly resumed, with large-scale technical transformation and basic construction carried out. The total area now covers 176 square kilometers, including 129.19 square kilometers of industrial land. The group company has 6 large-scale iron mines, 4 beneficiation plants, 1 ironmaking plant, 2 steelmaking plants, 13 steel rolling plants, and auxiliary supporting units such as coking, refractory, mechanical, power, transportation, construction, and comprehensive utilization, as well as research and design units such as technology centers, design and research institutes, and automation companies. The comprehensive capacity of pig iron, steel, and steel is all over 10 million tons.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Ansteel has made tremendous contributions to the country’s economic construction. From 1949 to 2004, Ansteel produced 321 million tons of steel, 316 million tons of pig iron, and 222 million tons of steel. We have paid 83.5 billion yuan in profits and taxes, equivalent to 15.4 times the national investment in Ansteel during the same period, and have provided over 50000 technical talents to the metallurgical industry nationwide. Ansteel is currently capable of producing over 700 varieties and 25000 specifications of steel products. We have fully passed the IS09002 quality system certification, tool steel has passed the certification of 9 national classification societies, and petroleum pipes have passed the API certification. In the process of transforming traditional industries with high-tech, Ansteel adopts new environmental protection processes and technologies, implements sustainable development strategies, strengthens environmental governance, and presents a blue sky over the factory area. We have built an industrial sewage treatment plant with a daily processing capacity of 220000 tons, which can recycle 168000 tons of circulating water every day. We have strengthened the ecological restoration and management of mining rock dumping sites and tailings dams. Currently, 155 hectares of mining land have been reclaimed and 600000 trees have been planted. The green area of the factory area has reached 34.2%. The steel body has passed ISO14000 environmental management system certification and OSHMS occupational safety and health management system certification, and the production of steel products is organized according to international and advanced standards, providing reliable assurance.
Since 1995, Ansteel has been continuously deepening enterprise reform in accordance with the requirements of “reform, restructuring, transformation, and strengthening enterprise management”, forming a parent-subsidiary company system framework, and establishing a modern enterprise system. Continuously exploring various forms of public ownership and establishing Ansteel Group New Steel Co., Ltd; Established Ansteel New Rolling Steel Co., Ltd., with its stocks listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Continuously carrying out large-scale technological transformation, we have embarked on a new path of “high starting point, low investment, fast output, and high efficiency” for the technological transformation of old enterprises. Our main technical equipment and production processes have reached international advanced levels, forming a complete product series from hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets to galvanized sheets, color coated sheets, and cold-rolled silicon steel. Ansteel has become one of the few steel companies in China that can produce sedan panels and the world’s largest supplier of container steel plates.
Building a high-quality base and creating a global brand is a firm business philosophy and unremitting pursuit formed by the people of Ansteel in the tempering of the market economy. By 2006, a 16 million ton high-quality steel plate base will be established, with automotive panels, home appliance panels, container panels, pipeline steel, cold-rolled silicon 3d printing stainless steel, and other leading products; By 2010, the overall scale of Ansteel will reach over 20 million tons of steel, becoming a world-class steel enterprise and entering the Fortune 500.
The enterprise ranked 31st in the 2006 China Top 500 Enterprise Rankings jointly released by the China Enterprise Federation and the China Entrepreneur Association, and 48th in the 2007 China Top 500 Enterprise Rankings.
In 1904, the Russo Japanese War broke out, and after Russia’s defeat, it signed the Treaty of Portsmouth. Japan seized the South Manchurian Railway and the Luda Leasehold between Changchun and Dalian, which were originally controlled by Russia.
In 1906, Japan established South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd. (referred to as Manchuria Railway) in Dalian to strengthen its political and economic aggression against Northeast China. It served as a base for economic aggression against Northeast China.
In August 1909, Manchurian Railway sent people to conduct illegal and secret prospecting in Anshan area. They successively investigated more than ten iron mines, including Tieshishan, West Anshan, East Anshan, Dagushan, Cherry Garden, Guanmen Mountain, Xiaolingzi, Gongchangling, and found resources such as Dashiqiao magnesite, Yantai clay mine, and found that Anshan area is a treasure land for mining and building factories to smelt steel.
So the president of Manchuria Railway, Xiongjiro Nakamura, proposed a plan to plunder the steel resources in the Anshan area. The traitor Yu Chonghan and the Japanese, Misuke Kameda, came forward to form the Sino Japanese Joint Revitalization Iron Mine Co., Ltd.
In mid July 1916, the General Administration of Zhenxing Iron Mine Co., Ltd., jointly established in Fengtian, had a capital of 140000 yen, with nominal investment of half between China and Japan, but in reality, it was fully funded by Manchuria Railway. A mining bureau was established in Qianshan and relocated to Anshan two years later. In 1917, it obtained mining rights for eight mining areas, including Dagushan, Cherry Blossom Garden, Dong’anshan, Xi’anshan, Wangjiabaozi, Opposite Mountain, Guanmen Mountain, Xiaolingzi, and Tieshishan. Its total area reaches 14578 acres. In 1921, they obtained mining rights for three mining areas including Baijiabaozi, Yidanshan, and Xinguanmen Mountain. Only 4.8 million tons were extracted from 1926-1933. The general bureau was dissolved and merged into the steel making plant in 1940.
In 1916, while establishing the company, Manchuria Railway began the construction of the Anshan Iron Works. In 1916, the Japanese government approved the establishment of Anshan Iron Works. On April 3, 1917, the “Dizhen Festival” was held and construction of the blast furnace began. On May 15, 1918, the “Anshan Iron Works Institute” was officially established, with Yutaro Bata serving as the director of the institute. Most of the construction projects were completed by the end of the year. In March 1919, the coking plant began producing coke. On April 29th, the No.1 blast furnace ignited, marking the official production of Anshan Iron Works.
After the September 18th Incident in 1931, Japan occupied the entire territory of Northeast China. In 1933, the Japanese government, with the support of the Ministry of War, relocated the steel plant originally planned for construction in North Korea to Anshan, with full investment from Manchuria Railway. On the basis of the existing Anshan Iron Plant, a steel mill and rolling mill were built, becoming a joint steel enterprise. Anshan Steel Works Co., Ltd. is a Japanese legal entity and a subsidiary of Manchuria Iron and Steel Corporation. Its president is Zhuo Xiong Wu Tang. Before the establishment of the Steel Works, an agreement was signed with Manchuria Railway to continue hiring all the staff of the original Anshan Iron Works, resulting in the merger of Anshan Iron Works. On June 4, 1936, Zhenxing Company leased the mining rights of 11 mining areas such as Dagushan to the Iron Works for direct mining. On July 1, 1937, the Steel Works took over the equity and debt of Zhenxing Company. On December 7, 1940, the steel plant completed the procedures for ore transfer and completely merged with Zhenxing Iron Mine Co., Ltd., forming a continuous production operation system for mining, beneficiation, ironmaking, and cnc machining steel .
With the expansion of Japan’s military scale, the production scale of Ansteel has undergone rapid development. By 1941, it had the ability to produce 2.5 million tons of iron, 1.3 million tons of steel ingots, and 750000 tons of steel annually. Its steel production capacity accounts for 28.4% of the total production capacity controlled by Japan, second only to the Yasuhama Iron Works in Kyushu (today’s Nippon Steel). At that time, another steel production enterprise in Manchukuo, Benxi Lake Coal and Steel Corporation (under the control of the Japanese Daikura chaebol), was only one-third the size of the Steel Works.
By 1943, the production capacity of the steel making plant had reached its peak, producing 1.3 million tons of iron, 843000 tons of steel, and 495000 tons of steel. According to the “Annals of Anshan • Anshan Iron and Steel Coils”, “From 1935 to 1945, the Steel Works and the Anshan Factory of Manchuria Iron and Steel Corporation produced a total of 9.056 million tons of pig iron, 5.474 million tons of steel, and 3.278 million tons of steel.
Some main data of the steel making institute:
1、 Blast furnace
By 1944, there were already 9 blast furnaces using the reduction roasting method.
No.1 blast furnace, third-generation, built in 1932, mainly manufactured by German Demark Company, with an annual production capacity of 700000 tons of pig iron
No.2 blast furnace, third generation, built in 1935, mainly manufactured by German Demark Company, with an annual production capacity of 700000 tons of pig iron
No. 3 blast furnace, second generation, built in 1930, mainly manufactured by GE in the United States, with an annual production capacity of 800000 tons of pig iron
No. 4 blast furnace, first generation, built in 1937, mainly manufactured by German Demark and AEG companies, with an annual production capacity of 700000 tons of pig iron
No. 5 blast furnace, first generation, built in 1938, self built, with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of pig iron
No. 6 blast furnace, first generation, built in 1938, self built, with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of pig iron
No. 7 blast furnace, first generation, built in 1939, self built, with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of pig iron
No. 8 blast furnace, first generation, built in 1939, self built, with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of pig iron
No. 9 blast furnace, first generation, built in 1943, self built, with an annual production capacity of 250000 tons of pig iron
(The annual production capacity is the ideal output calculated using Fushun coal – the so-called “standard Dongyang coal”. In reality, due to coal supply and production issues, each blast furnace has not reached its maximum output.)
2、 Steelmaking
At that time, steelmaking technology could be divided into separate steelmaking method and combined steelmaking method based on equipment. The separate steelmaking method is divided into open hearth method (including acidic open hearth method and alkaline open hearth method), converter method, electric furnace method, and crucible furnace method. The combined steelmaking method is divided into two types: acidic converter and preparatory refining furnace, which are combined with fixed open hearth furnace, tilting open hearth furnace, and Talbot open hearth furnace, with a total of six types. Due to the grade issue of Anshan Iron Mine, the combination method of preparatory refining furnace and tilting open hearth can only be used. According to the supply of raw materials, it can be divided into three types: pig iron+scrap steel, pig iron+ore, and scrap steel. Anshan Iron Plant uses pig iron ore method.
The first steelmaking plant: 1 600 ton mixed iron furnace, 3 300 ton refining furnaces, 2 150 ton open hearth furnaces, and 4 100 ton open hearth furnaces, with an annual production capacity of 580000 tons of steel ingots.
The second steelmaking plant: 2 mixing furnaces with a capacity of 600 tons, 4 refining furnaces with a capacity of 300 tons, and 62 open hearth furnaces with a capacity of 150 tons, with an annual production capacity of 750000 tons of steel ingots.
Steel ingots need to be processed into steel. The supporting factories of the steelmaking plant include two primary rolling plants (with an annual steel production capacity of 1.06 million tons), a large plant (with an annual steel production capacity of 200000 tons, including railway tracks and special shaped steel), two small plants (with an annual steel production capacity of 170000 tons, mainly steel pipes and wire rods), a thin plate plant (with an annual production capacity of 40000 tons), and a medium plate plant (with an annual production capacity of 70000 tons). In addition, there are 8 gas generators. The main equipment is produced by Krupp, AEG, Demark, and Kobe Steel in Japan.
3、 Mines:
The mining reserves in Anshan area are 42.76 billion tons of lean ore and 160 million tons of rich ore. The main mines are Gongchangling, Dagushan, Cherry Blossom Garden, and 13 other iron mines. The mining capacity is 3 million tons per year.
4、 Supporting factory:
Thermal power plant, two sets of 10000kW and 18000kW generator sets each, produced by GE Company in the United States; One set of 25000kW generator set, produced by German company Delugen
There are four coking plants and 19 Cobo type coke ovens, with an annual production capacity of 2.075 million tons of coke. The supporting facilities include a refining factory with 12 sets of tower type fine distillers; Two tar plants, 16 sets of distillers, producing medium and heavy oils. A chemical plant with an annual output of 1800 tons, 61000 tons of sulfuric acid, and 46000 tons of ammonium sulfate.
In addition, there are several other steel companies in the Anshan area, claiming to be the “satellite factories” of the Steel Works Institute:
1. Asia Lead Plating Co., Ltd., invested by Harada Corporation in Japan, produces 32000 tons of galvanized sheet metal, iron wire, and iron nails annually
2. Anshan Steel Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Steel Works, produces 30000 tons of steel and 60000 tons of steel rails annually
3. Nippon Steel Pipe Co., Ltd., a branch of Nippon Steel Pipe Co., Ltd., produces 70000 tons of welded and seamless steel pipes annually
4. Inoguchi Yanghang, a private industry with an annual production of 2400 tons of rivets and screws
5. Sumitomo Steel Pipe Co., Ltd., a branch of Sumitomo’s chaebol, produces 25000 tons of steel pipes for weapons and 15000 tons of other steel pipes annually
6. Established with investment from Manchuria Steel Works and Kobe Steel Works, with an annual output of 6000 tons of forged steel and cast iron parts
7. Manchuria Steel Roll Manufacturing Institute, a private industry with an annual output of 54000 tons of various steel rolls and mechanical castings
8. Invested by Manchuria Kubota Cast Iron Pipe Association, Osaka Kubota Iron Institute, Tokugawa Precision Iron Institute, and Dalian Machinery Manufacturing Institute, with an annual production of 33000 tons of steel pipes
On August 15, 1945, after the unconditional surrender of the Japanese aggressors, the Soviet army arrived in Anshan on August 26. From late September to early November 1945, in just over 40 days, the Soviet Red Army detained tens of thousands of Japanese prisoners of war and dismantled and transported over 70000 tons of mechanical equipment and other supplies from Ansteel. Especially after some key equipment was stolen, the entire industrial production capacity decreased to zero, causing extremely serious damage. In addition, after the Soviet army withdrew from Anshan, social order was chaotic, and some residents took the opportunity to dismantle and take away some of Ansteel’s transportation belts, rolling balls, grease, small motors, and wires, which also caused some losses.
The investigation report of the Kuomintang Resource Committee pointed out that the original equipment and intact parts of Angang Steel were mostly relocated to steel factories in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, and other places in the Soviet Union. The whereabouts of some damaged equipment during demolition are unknown, and it is estimated that they have been returned or scrapped.
The dismantling status of important equipment at Ansteel
1、 Mining equipment:
70% of the crushing equipment in Gongchangling Mine, all of the air compressors, all of the cone crushers, all of the locomotives, 60% of the freight cars, and all of the trucks;
All mining equipment with an annual production capacity of 7 million tons at Dagushan Mine, all German made Sherman Electric exploration machinery, all locomotives, and all freight cars;
2、 Mineral processing equipment:
All beneficiation equipment with an annual output of 850000 tons, including ball mills, tube mills, magnetic concentrators, and sintering equipment
3、 Granular iron equipment:
All machinery and equipment of the granular iron plant with an annual production of 180000 tons of sponge iron
4、 Ironmaking equipment:
3. All detachable parts of blast furnaces 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, including winches, gauges, cooling equipment, loading trucks, balancing trucks, bell winches, patio cranes, dust collectors, casting bed cranes, coke cranes, and hot blast furnaces. All equipment imported from Germany, Japan, and the United States. In addition, 6 gantry cranes and 3 cast iron machines were dismantled.
5、 Coking equipment:
All auxiliary equipment and machinery for coking furnaces 11 to 18; 45% of other coke oven ancillary equipment
6、 Coal washing equipment:
70% of the 150 ton coal washing equipment, and all of the 200 ton coal washing equipment
7、 Chemical equipment:
All equipment of refining plants, factories, sulfuric acid plants, and ammonium sulfate plants
8、 Steelmaking equipment:
All mechanical equipment of the second steelmaking plant with an annual output of 750000 tons; 45% of the mechanical equipment of the first steelmaking plant with an annual output of 580000 tons
9、 Ferroalloy equipment:
One 15 ton electric furnace, two 6 ton electric furnaces, and all supporting mechanical equipment
10、 Rolling equipment:
A complete set of equipment for the second blooming mill with an annual output of 500000 tons; All equipment of a large factory with a capacity of 200000 tons; All equipment of a 150000 ton medium plate factory; All equipment of the second small-scale factory with 100000 tons; All equipment of a 40000 ton thin plate factory
11、 Power equipment:
One set of 25000 kW and one set of 18000 kW generator sets each; 6 high-pressure boilers and 8 high-pressure forced draft fans
12、 Machine tool:
64% of main machine tools
13、 Research machinery and equipment:
All research machinery and equipment
Other machinery:
Total weight 44800 tons
Manufacturing and processing machinery:
All equipment of Sumitomo Metal Industry Association and Kubota Cast Iron Pipe Association
Overall, the losses of each factory are more than half, while those of beneficiation, steelmaking, and rolling are more than 70%. Due to the dismantling and transportation of a large number of mechanical equipment, the power equipment completely stopped running, and the production operations of Ansteel were completely paralyzed. In terms of steel rolling, only the medium-sized factories of Anshan Steel Association and the medium and thick plate factories of Dagu Heavy Industry Association have a relatively mild degree of damage and can barely be used. Other factories such as Manchuria Grid Manufacturing and Manchuria Galvanizing, although their equipment was not fatally damaged, were also unable to produce due to the complete demolition of the second small factory and the lack of raw materials. The large factories that produce heavy rails and the factories that produce seamless steel pipes and thin plates have all been dismantled. Therefore, at that time, such a large 3d printing die steel complex was unable to produce even iron wire and nails.
The decline in production capacity of Ansteel:
% reduction in original ability and residual ability
(Unit: 10000 tons)
Gongchangling Mining Institute 125 12 90%
Cherry Blossom Garden Mining Institute 250 100%
Dagushan Mining Institute 700 20 97%
Restore factory 230 20 91%
Mineral processing plant 99 18 82%
China Mining Factory 22 0 100%
Sintering plant 100 0 100%
Agglomeration factory 40 15 63%
Raw iron factory 19 0 100%
Granular iron factory 18 0 100%
Coal washing plant 150 0 100%
Coke plant 230 50 78%
Coal Tower Factory 135 4 97%
Sulfuric acid factory 6.2 0 100%
Ammonium Sulfate Factory 4.6 0 100%
Factory 2.9 0 100%
Steel making factories 133 28 82%
Blooming mill 100 7 93%
Large factory 200 100%
First small factory 7 5 29%
Second small factory 100%
Medium plate factory 8 0 100%
Thin plate factory 4 0 100%
Ferroalloy factory 1.5 0.1 93%
Power generation equipment 81000kW 38000kW 53%
Receiving equipment 60000kVA 35000kVA 42%
Steam equipment 480 tons/hour 100 tons/hour 79%
Other:
Sumitomo Metal Industry Association
First Steel Pipe Factory 2.5 0 100%
Second Steel Pipe Factory 1.8 0 100%
Extrusion tube factory 0.1 0 100%
Cold drawn pipe factory 0.13 0 100%
Tire factory 1.6 0 100%
Shensteel Metal Society 2.4 2.4 0%
Dagu Heavy Industry Association
Roll factory 0.3 0.21 30%
Casting spindle plate factory 0.12 0.084 30%
Medium steel plate factory 3.24 1.2 63%
Anshan Steel Association 1.6 1 30%
Kubota cast iron pipe
Directly managed factory 3.6 0 100%
Special shaped pipe factory 0.25 0 100%
Casting factory 0.3 0 100%
Riman Steel Pipe Association
Welded pipe factory 3 1.8 40%
Manchuria Steel Corporation
Steel Rope Factory 0.6 0 100%
After the retreat of the former Soviet Red Army, during the 22 months of Kuomintang rule, Angang Steel produced only 9500 tons of steel. By the time it was taken over by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, it was already full of wounds and desolation. During this period, the city was severely damaged, Ansteel was dilapidated and desolate, the streets were sluggish and disorderly, water, electricity, and gas were cut off, workers were unemployed, and residents flowed out. Only 90000 people remained in the built-up area. On February 19, 1948, Anshan was liberated, and it was only then that Anshan and Ansteel truly returned to the hands of the people.
On November 2, 1948, the People’s Liberation Army captured Shenyang and declared the liberation of the entire Northeast region. On December 26, 1948, the Northeast Administrative Committee approved the establishment of Anshan Iron and Steel Company and announced the revocation of Anshan Iron and Steel Plant.
In April of the following year, Ansteel resumed production with the efforts of experts such as Shao Xianghua. On July 9th, Anshan Iron and Steel Company held a commencement ceremony and carried out large-scale technological transformation and basic construction. After the establishment of Ansteel, an organization was established with 4 offices, 9 departments, and 29 factories and mines. (i.e. Secretariat, Planning Department, Human Resources Department, Manager’s Office, Iron Making Department, Transport Department, Coking, Chemical, Iron Making, Mineral Processing, Steel Making, Refractory, Rolling, Medium, Steel Pipe, Thin Plate, Oxygen, Power Generation, Water Supply, Gas, Manufacturing Plant 1, Manufacturing Plant 2, Nailing, Steel Rope, Machine Repair, Electrical Repair, Assembly, Manufacturing Plant, Gongchangling Mine, Xiaofangshi Mine, Cherry Blossom Garden Mine, Shuangmiaozi Mine, etc.) Here, there are staff hospitals, industrial schools, etc . The company has 10512 employees, including 486 employees, 418 technical personnel, and 9608 workers In order to resume production as soon as possible, Ansteel has taken over 140 protected engineering and technical personnel back from Shenyang, Dandong, and other places, and appointed them according to their abilities. An expert group was established to draft a plan for repairing Ansteel. And do a good job in the work of the remaining Japanese technical personnel, leveraging their technical expertise, so that Ansteel’s production capacity can reach 510000 tons of ore, 200000 tons of pig iron and steel, 500000 tons of steel billets, and 300000 tons of steel. In order to solve the problem of equipment shortage, Anshan City has launched a nationwide event to donate equipment to the people. In less than two months, we submitted 1123 types of equipment and 210000 pieces. From December 1948 to January 949, 4255 Ansteel employees donated 62400 pieces of equipment, thus solving the urgent need for Ansteel’s repair equipment. Subsequently, activities such as production merit competitions were launched to accelerate the progress of repairs. 3. Some factories resumed work in April. The first batch of steel was produced on April 5th. On May 1st, the central government sent He Long to attend the resumption ceremony of the steelmaking plant. In June, the first batch of molten iron was produced again. Production was basically resumed by the end of the year. In 1950, more than 500 county and prefecture level cadres were transferred from all over the country to support Angang, and more than 500 engineering and management personnel with high cultural quality and professional technical knowledge were recruited from central and southern China. During this period, we persisted in production while repairing, and tried every means possible, including mobilizing the remaining steel industry equipment from the Nationalist period in Daye, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, and other places to Angang, as well as spending foreign exchange to purchase important components and equipment from Switzerland and Sweden through Hong Kong, in order to restore production. On March 27, 1950, China and the Soviet Union signed the “Agreement between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China on Technical Assistance for the Restoration and Reconstruction of Ansteel”. On March 19, 1952, the Party Group of the Finance and Economic Committee of the State Council submitted a report to the central government on the development policy, speed, and distribution of the national steel industry. The proposal was: 1. Concentrate national efforts, especially technical personnel, to first carry out the restoration and renovation of Ansteel and strive for rapid completion. 2. Daye has been designated as the second steel base to commence construction during the first five-year plan period. 3. The design work of Daye was entrusted to the Soviet Union. 4. Officially notified the Soviet Union that during the “First Five Year Plan” period, Benxi only restored the two blast furnaces, two rows of coke ovens, and corresponding mining, beneficiation, and other projects that were not yet in operation during the pseudo Manchukuo period. The central government approved on May 6th. On May 4th, the central government made the decision to “concentrate national forces and first build Ansteel”. On July 14th, construction of the seamless steel pipe factory, one of the three major projects of Ansteel, began. Technical guidance and equipment support provided by Soviet experts (purchased by China using Soviet loans, mostly refurbished second-hand equipment seized from Silesia and replaced by the Soviet Union). On March 19, 1953, the No. 8 blast furnace of Ansteel, which was completely repaired by one’s own efforts, began operation.
By 1952, all remaining equipment at Ansteel had resumed production. Steel forging and iron making, coke ovens, mines, open hearth furnaces, blast furnaces, mineral processing, and other factories and mines have all been produced. During this period, the total investment of the country reached 232 million yuan. The total number of people during this period was 67600, including 1629 engineering and technical personnel.
Starting from the first five-year plan in 1953, the state focused its efforts on building Ansteel. Expand the production scale of Ansteel, build a large state-owned joint production enterprise, and complete the renovation, reconstruction, and expansion of 48 main projects on the basis of the original production scale; To produce 2.5 million tons of iron, 3.2 million tons of steel, and 2.5 million tons of steel. During the First Five Year Plan period, 37 key projects were implemented. This includes three major projects: large-scale steel rolling, seamless steel pipes, and ironmaking blast furnaces. By the completion of the First Five Year Plan in 1957, Ansteel had undergone comprehensive transformation and expansion, with production capacity exceeding the original planned targets. During this period, Wang Chonglun emerged, known as the “person walking ahead of time”. In 1957, the production of pig iron reached 3.361 million tons, with 2.9107 million tons of steel and 1.9239 million tons of steel. The government invested 1.759 billion yuan and turned in profits of 2.24 billion yuan. For this reason, Ansteel has become the true largest steel base in China and is known as the steel capital of the motherland.