Recently, the China Metallurgical News published an article signed by Xiong Jian, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Steel Luonai, titled "Innovation driven Change and Innovation driven Quality Improvement - China Steel Luonai Promotes High quality Development of Enterprises", which deeply explores the development path of China Steel Luonai through innovation driven transformation and upgrading, and quality improvement. The main content is as follows:

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that high-quality development is the primary task for comprehensively building a socialist modernized country. As a state-owned enterprise under China Baowu and China Steel Group, Sinosteel Luonai has the responsibility and obligation to contribute to the comprehensive construction of a socialist modernized country through the high-quality development of the enterprise.

Innovation driven enhancement of gold content

In today's world, technological innovation has become the main battlefield of international strategic games. As the only enterprise in the refractory materials industry listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, technological innovation is also the key to enhancing core functions, improving core competitiveness, and increasing the "gold" content of development for Sinosteel Luonai. On March 28th, Hu Wangming, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Baowu, once again visited China Steel's Luonai for research, and put forward hopes and goals for Luonai: to leverage its scientific research advantages, rely on self innovation, accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and use the dual wheel drive of "technology+service" to make Luonai stronger and better, and create a unique path for the development of steel enterprise refractory materials.

Technological innovation is difficult in "creation" and valuable in "novelty". This is a profound understanding of technological innovation in the more than 60 years of development of Sinosteel Luonai. On the morning of June 24, 2024, the National Science and Technology Conference, the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, and the Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering were grandly held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The project "Functionalization and Green Design, Preparation of Refractory Materials and Their Support for Green Manufacturing of Steel" jointly applied by China Steel Lona Institute, Baosteel and other units won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. The addition of heavyweight honors is both pressure and motivation for Sinosteel Luonai. The research team of Sinosteel Luonai deeply understands that breakthroughs in core technologies, profit growth, and the achievement of awards and honors all require long-term accumulation. In this process, 'creativity' is proactive planning and thinking, while 'novelty' is the result and display that comes from 'creativity'. In order to make "innovation" and "novelty" more concrete in refractory materials and the high-temperature industry they serve, Sinosteel Luonai focuses on technological innovation and model innovation in high-temperature industry. Adhering to the idea of "strong alliance", it cooperates with Shanghai University and Wuhan University of Science and Technology to jointly undertake the important task of the national science and technology innovation system for refractory materials. It has led the application for the National Key Laboratory of Advanced Refractory Materials and become a national key laboratory included in the new national sequence in the field of refractory materials. On March 25th, the kickoff meeting for the construction of the National Key Laboratory of Advanced Refractory Materials was held at China Steel Luoyang, marking a new stage in the research and development of high-temperature industrial materials in China. China Steel Luoyang will practice the Baowu Innovation Culture concept of "learning and innovation, striving to make the laboratory a gathering place for high-end talents and a source of original technology.

Cultivating an innovative culture, promoting the spirit of scientists, and creating an innovative atmosphere are important components of improving the scientific and technological innovation system proposed at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Sinosteel Luonai relies on the first batch of "Scientists' Spiritual Education Bases" jointly named by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, and faces the major strategic needs of national defense, military industry, aerospace, etc., promotes the deep integration of industry, education, and research, solves a series of "choke points", further cultivates the competitive advantage of enterprises, and plays a positive role in enhancing the core functions of enterprises and enhancing core competitiveness. In 2024, Sinosteel Luonai invested more than 126.46 million yuan in research and development work, leading the national key research and development plan "Research on Key Thermal Insulation Ceramic Materials for Heavy duty Gas Turbines" project to make new progress. The heavy duty gas turbine ceramic insulation tile project has started trial production and application work, and further research has been carried out on process technology optimization, non-destructive quantitative evaluation, etc., actively promoting the design and construction of a dedicated pilot demonstration line for ceramic insulation materials for heavy duty gas turbines; Breakthroughs have been made in the localization research and development of refractory materials for the core equipment of glass solidification of high-level radioactive waste liquid, which has been independently developed. The complete independent innovation of refractory materials has been achieved, and the overall lining configuration application has been carried out in the first domestic intermediate test furnace established by China National Nuclear Corporation; The project "Research on the Damage Mechanism of Refractory Materials for High Temperature Hydrogen Metallurgy Equipment" has passed the acceptance smoothly. Recently, Sinosteel Luonai won the domestic substitution technology solution for the tuyere brick of Baosteel's No.1 blast furnace; Successfully breaking through technological barriers and achieving domestic substitution for the first time in the field of Aisa furnace, achieving a leapfrog development from "following" to "leading", and continuously providing strong support for national strategy and high-quality development of the company. As of the end of 2024, Sinosteel Luonai has 582 valid authorized patents, including 323 invention patents.

Focus on improving the quality of the main business

If technological innovation is the mission and responsibility of state-owned enterprises to meet national strategies, then improving the quality of enterprise development is the lifeline of survival and development for enterprises to bear their own profits and losses. With the further increase in the concentration of refractory materials and the high-temperature industry they serve, high-quality, efficient, and high-performance refractory materials have become the key to the high-quality development of the high-temperature industry. Sinosteel Luonai adheres to the development direction of "high-end, intelligent, green, and efficient" and the business philosophy of "one specialization, two transformations, three increases, and three reductions" of Zhonggang Group. Around the four main lines of "technological innovation, cost reduction and efficiency improvement, market development, and management reform", it establishes a scientific research management system with "goal orientation, clear rights and responsibilities, and dynamic assessment", breaks through the "research and development transformation incentive" loop, and turns scientific and technological achievements into an inexhaustible driving force for enterprise development. By 2024, it aims to promote the transformation of 12 technological achievements into new products and processes. But technological innovation alone is not enough. We also need to strengthen the full process and all-round innovation of product innovation, brand innovation, and service models, so that the achievements of "innovation" can ultimately be reflected in the quality of enterprise development through "novelty".

In 2024, the market situation is extremely severe, and China Steel Luonai has encountered a bottleneck in its development. Since the beginning of 2025, Sinosteel Luonai has been striving for change through innovation, improving quality through innovation, and accelerating with the attitude of "decisive battle at the beginning and sprint at the beginning". Its first quarter revenue exceeded 541 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.58%, and a net profit of 19.5972 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 117%. The total profit has achieved 141% of the budgeted calendar progress target, achieving a "good start" in production and operation. Sinosteel Luonai insists on combining "inviting in" and "going out" to cooperate in the field of refractory materials, and has established business cooperation with visiting Danish company SIMONNEN L& T Company, AM Company, Italian Tecno Refractories Company, Nikko Company, ZTE Taiwan, China and other strategic and important customers had in-depth exchanges. Go out and explore broader markets. Since the beginning of this year, Sinosteel Luonai has won multiple projects worth 10 million yuan, including the general contracting of refractory materials for coke oven silicon bricks, converters, non-ferrous smelting, and gasifier expansion and renovation. Continuously expanding the international market and achieving new breakthroughs in the sales of glass kiln products in the international market; The engineering service business is steadily advancing, and the 100th nickel iron rotary kiln refractory project undertaken by China Steel Lonai in Indonesia has been successfully completed and delivered, marking a further consolidation of its leading position in the world of nickel iron refractory engineering. In 2025, Sinosteel Luonai's international market development of silicon carbide products has achieved positive results, with a year-on-year increase of 28% in export volume in the first quarter. Zhonggang Lonai's engineering service projects continue to make efforts, highlighting the marketing model of engineering with materials and expanding engineering projects. The rotary kiln of a major overhaul project in Indonesia has been successfully constructed, the nickel iron project in Indonesia has been ignited and put into operation, and multiple domestic kiln construction projects have been carried out smoothly.

In the future, Sinosteel Luonai will continue to lead the development concept of high-end, intelligent, green and efficient, seek change through "innovation", improve quality through "new", rely on national level R&D platforms, expand sub sectors, explore new channels for future industrial development, and seek new breakthroughs through management changes, optimizing product structure and operation control models, strengthening market development, and enhancing market competitiveness. With value creation as the core, relying on technological innovation, based on high-temperature industry, expanding strategic emerging materials industry, creating inorganic non-metallic materials system integration, comprehensive configuration and system solution service providers for high-temperature industry, leading the green, low-carbon, sustainable and high-quality development of high-temperature non-metallic materials industry, and moving towards more innovative capabilities and market competitiveness. The goal of a technology-based enterprise with value is to tirelessly strive forward.