Chapter 44 9. Energy industry—the eternal industrial fuel pool

In this era when the shift of manufacturing to China is becoming more and more obvious, many Chinese enterprises will realize the transformation from labor-intensive to technology-intensive and capital-intensive. , or complete the high-quality transfer of industries, will inevitably generate more demand for energy, which will inevitably bring a new round of stimulating effects to the energy industry. Introduction to the topic: The Embarrassing Reality - The Certainty Behind the Uncertainty We must acknowledge the fact that: Unless one day we give up all industries, give up all means of transportation, and return social civilization to the era of ruthlessness, the demand for energy will never stop for human society.

Because there is demand, there is supply. From this point of view, if the demand does not stop, the supply of its products by the energy industry will not stop for a moment. However, resources are limited. As a unique form of natural resources, energy is also facing the fate of being exhausted. Especially under the premise of increasing energy consumption by human beings, excessive overdraft and waste of energy has become the most serious problem in the world. pressing reality. For China, this situation is particularly bad. We have known since childhood that China is a country rich in resources and energy. However, when these resources are divided by China's huge population base, the per capita resource share decreases sharply, barely ranking 53rd in the world.

Based on such innate conditions, it is determined that China must take a path of economical development. However, in fact, China's resource utilization efficiency is very low.According to data, although our GDP accounts for more than 5.5% of the world's total, this proportion consumes 32% of global crude steel, 25% of alumina, 48% of cement, and 33% of glass. In exchange for 30% of chemical fertilizers, this means that we have used one-third of the world's resources, but only provided one-twentieth of the output value. More importantly, in this process, we have also consumed 40% of the global coal consumption. With such energy consumption, we have obtained such a low unit output value, and its consumption level is even higher than the world's average level of 2.4 It is 2.1 times that of the United States, 4.43 times that of Japan, and 4.97 times that of Germany. Even compared with India, which is also a developing country, it is 1.65 times that of them.

In today's business model, high cost means loss. When our investment is so huge that it is not far from the economic added value, it actually means the beginning of loss. We don't need to consider other aspects for the time being. As far as environmental pollution is concerned, when a country's industrial pollution discharge is 10 times the average level of developed countries, it can be said that no matter how fast the country's economic development is, it will be greatly offset. We know that for the energy industry, its rate of return is highly dependent on energy prices, and the prices of coal and oil are all cyclical, so the profits of this industry also show a cyclical trend.

But what is gratifying is that despite the strong cyclicality of this industry, for energy companies, they can still maintain profitability in the trough of the cycle, the difference is nothing more than more or less profit.In the current era, the profit margins faced by the energy industry are unimaginable. With the stimulation of consumption in our country, the guidance of economic transformation, and the stimulation of the continuous appreciation of RMB, the adjustment of my country's industrial structure has become an inevitable trend. Among these industries, some advantageous industries will create a group of highly competitive industries. global enterprise.

When an energy company devotes itself to the international market, economies of scale will be the only way to gain a competitive advantage. The larger the scale, the more profitable it will be in the fierce market competition. Therefore, for Chinese energy companies, Monopoly is the only way out. The only thing that needs to be paid attention to is whether the benefits brought by this industry monopoly can be shared by the public. For the energy industry, it is now an uncertain era. We do not know how long China's energy status can sustain profitable mining, nor do we know whether there will be policy factors in the years to come. to strengthen its control.

However, what we can be sure of is that in this era when the manufacturing industry is increasingly shifting to China, many Chinese companies will realize the transformation from labor-intensive to technology-intensive and capital-intensive, and in this process, Whether it is the optimization of productivity factors or the high-quality transfer of industries, there will inevitably be more demand for energy, which is bound to bring a new round of stimulating effects to the energy industry.