Mining industry development opportunities, how to drive the internal development of the industry?

User question: Industry concentration continues to increase, cloud computing enterprises how to accurately grasp the industry investment opportunities?
The mining industry is an industrial sector that extracts naturally occurring minerals, mainly including coal, metal minerals, non-metallic minerals and other fields of mining. The industry is highly dependent on natural resources, and geographical location and resource endowments have a significant impact on its development. The upstream of the mining industry chain involves the exploration, exploitation and beneficiation of mineral resources; The middle reaches include smelting and deep processing of mineral products; Downstream are mineral products
The mining industry is an industrial sector that extracts naturally occurring minerals, mainly including coal, metal minerals, non-metallic minerals and other fields of mining. The industry is highly dependent on natural resources, and geographical location and resource endowments have a significant impact on its development. The upstream of the mining industry chain involves the exploration, exploitation and beneficiation of mineral resources; The middle reaches include smelting and deep processing of mineral products; Downstream is the application of mineral products, such as construction, machinery, electronics, energy and so on. While the mining industry drives economic development, it also faces challenges such as resource depletion, environmental impacts and safety risks. Therefore, the mining industry needs to actively respond to the challenges and promote technological innovation and digital transformation to achieve more sustainable, environmentally friendly and intelligent development.

I. Analysis of mining industry development status

1. Number of enterprises and operating conditions

Number of enterprises: According to the Analysis Report on the Status quo and future development Trend of the mining industry in 2024-2029 released by the Puhua Industrial Research Institute, the number of mining enterprises in China from January to September 2024 was 12,661, an increase of 381 compared with the same period last year, an increase of 3.65%. This shows that the mining industry as a whole still maintains a certain growth trend.

Operating conditions: Although the number of enterprises has increased, the operating conditions of the mining industry have shown a certain divergence. On the one hand, some large enterprises have achieved economies of scale and improved profitability through technological innovation and resource integration. On the other hand, small and medium-sized enterprises are facing greater operating pressure due to capital, technology, management and other restrictions. In particular, the number of loss-making enterprises accounted for a relatively high proportion, from January to September 2024, the number of loss-making enterprises in the mining industry was 5016, accounting for 39.62% of the number of mining enterprises.

2. Market size and growth trend

Market size: The market size of China’s mineral industry has continued to grow in recent years. According to the data of Fortune (Eastern Wealth Network), the market size of China’s mineral industry in 2022 has reached 11,654.535 billion yuan, an increase of 18.75%. It is expected that in the next few years, with the rapid development of new energy, new materials and other fields, the market size of the mineral industry will continue to grow.

Growth trend: In the long term, the growth trend of the mining industry will be influenced by a number of factors. On the one hand, the recovery of the global economy and the acceleration of the industrialization process will drive the demand for mineral resources to increase; On the other hand, the strengthening of environmental protection policies and the pressure of resource depletion will limit the development rate of the mining industry. Therefore, the mining industry needs to focus on sustainable development and environmental protection while maintaining economic growth.

3. Technological innovation and intelligent development

Technological innovation: With the continuous progress of science and technology, the mining industry is gradually realizing technological innovation and transformation and upgrading. For example, improving mining efficiency and safety through the introduction of advanced mining equipment and technology; Through the development of new mineral resource extraction technology, reduce environmental pollution and resource waste.

Intelligent development: Intelligent has become an important direction for the development of mining industry. Through the Internet of Things, big data analysis, artificial intelligence and other technical means, to achieve accurate mining exploration, optimal utilization of resources and automated mining. This can not only improve mining efficiency and quality, but also reduce production costs and safety risks. Taking coal mining as an example, China’s coal mining technology is entering the stage of intelligent mining, fully mechanized mining equipment technology upgrade is the right time. The intelligent coal mine market space is expected to reach more than 10 billion, and the market space is considerable in 2024~2025.

4. Policy environment and sustainable development

Policy environment: In recent years, the government and relevant departments have issued a series of guiding policies to guide the healthy development of the mining industry. These policies mainly focus on strengthening mining efforts, developing green mine construction, and standardizing mine operation and production. At the same time, the government has also increased the supervision of the mining industry to ensure the healthy and orderly development of the industry.

Sustainable development: With the continuous improvement of environmental awareness and the pressure of resource depletion, the sustainable development of the mining industry has been paid more and more attention. In order to achieve sustainable development, the mining industry needs to pay attention to the efficient use and recycling of resources, reduce environmental pollution and ecological damage; At the same time, it is also necessary to strengthen technological innovation and personnel training to improve the overall competitiveness and sustainable development capacity of the industry.

Second, the mining industry competition pattern analysis

1. Industrial concentration and market share

The concentration of mining industry reflects the competitive situation of the industry to some extent. At present, the mining industry shows a certain trend of concentration, large enterprises with capital, technology and scale advantages, occupy a larger market share. These large enterprises usually have a complete industrial chain and strong anti-risk ability, and can maintain a leading position in the fierce market competition. At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprises, although their market share is relatively small, have unique competitive advantages in certain market segments or specific resource areas.

2. Enterprise types and competitive characteristics

Integrated enterprises: Such enterprises usually cover the upstream and downstream integration of mining, mineral processing, smelting and other businesses, with strong resource integration capabilities and cost control capabilities. For example, Zijin Mining, Shandong Gold and other enterprises, through the construction of a complete industrial chain, to achieve the efficient use of resources and cost reduction, so as to occupy an advantage in the competition.

Smelting and processing enterprises: These enterprises mainly obtain mining rights through bidding and upward layout of mining industry. They usually have strong smelting and processing capacity and technical strength, and can produce high-quality products. For example, Ningbo Jintian Copper (Group) Co., LTD., Zhongtiaoshan Nonferrous Metals Group Co., Ltd. and other enterprises have improved the added value of products and market competitiveness by continuously improving the level of smelting and processing technology.

3. Competition pattern and trend

Resource competition: The competitive landscape of the mining industry is largely influenced by the distribution of resources. Enterprises with rich mineral resources can usually occupy an advantageous position in the competition. Therefore, enterprises have expanded resource reserves and improved resource control ability through mergers and acquisitions, cooperation and other ways.

Technological competition: With the continuous development of science and technology, technological innovation has become an important aspect of competition in the mining industry. Enterprises have increased investment in research and development, the introduction of advanced mining equipment and technology to improve mining efficiency and safety. At the same time, enterprises also pay attention to technological innovation and achievement transformation, and promote industrial upgrading and transformation.

Market competition: In terms of market competition, large enterprises occupy a large market share with their brand, channel and scale advantages. Small and medium-sized enterprises seek breakthroughs and development through market segmentation and differentiated competition.

Third, mining industry development trend and development prospects analysis

1. Analysis of mining industry development trend

greenization

Under the background of increasing global environmental awareness, green mine construction and circular economy model will become the new trend of mining industry development. Through the use of advanced environmental protection technology and equipment, reduce waste emissions, improve resource utilization efficiency, to achieve the green development of mining industry. This not only helps to enhance the overall image and competitiveness of the mining industry, but also contributes to the construction of the ecological civilization of the country.

intelligentize

With the continuous development of advanced technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, the mining industry will usher in an intelligent revolution. Autonomous mining involves the integration of sensing, V2X, intelligent scheduling and remote control technologies, which can enhance the control of the entire mining process and reduce human intervention in the mining and transportation line. The emergence of key equipment such as autonomous mining cards will enable 24-hour uninterrupted operation and improve mining efficiency. The application of intelligent technology will bring revolutionary changes to the mining industry.

securitization

Safety is an important guarantee for the development of mining industry. With the increasing mining depth, safety problems such as ground pressure, rock temperature and ventilation become increasingly prominent. Therefore, the mining industry needs to continuously strengthen safety management and improve safety prevention capabilities. Through the use of advanced monitoring technology and equipment, the real-time grasp of mine safety conditions, timely detection and elimination of safety hazards. At the same time, strengthen the safety training and education of employees to improve their safety awareness and operational skills.

High efficiency

With the intensification of market competition and resource constraints, the mining industry needs to continuously improve the efficiency of resource utilization and production.​ At the same time, strengthen the coordination and cooperation between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and form an industrial pattern of complementary advantages and resource sharing.

2. Analysis of mining industry development prospects

Market demand continues to grow

With the continuous development of China’s economy and the rapid development of emerging industries, the demand for raw materials such as metals and minerals will continue to grow. This will provide a broad market space and development opportunities for the mining industry. In particular, the rapid development of new energy and new materials will drive the demand for non-ferrous metals, rare earth elements and other mineral resources to continue to grow.

Increased policy support

In order to ensure national energy and resources security, the Chinese government will continue to increase its support for mineral resource exploration and development. Through the introduction of a series of policies, optimize the registration management of mineral resources exploration and mining, and promote the high-quality development of the mining industry. The implementation of these policies will provide a good development environment and policy guarantee for the mining industry.

Technological innovation leads development

Technological innovation will become an important driving force for the development of mining industry. Through strengthening technology research and development and innovation, promote the development of the mining industry to the high-end, intelligent and green direction. In particular, the application of advanced technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things will promote the transformation and upgrading of the mining industry and sustainable development.

International cooperation has been deepened

With the deepening of globalization, the international cooperation of mining industry will continue to deepen. Through strengthening cooperation and exchanges with international advanced enterprises, the introduction of advanced technology and management experience will promote China’s mining industry to the world stage. At the same time, we will actively participate in international cooperation in the development and utilization of mineral resources to achieve mutual benefit and common development.