産業学会研究年報
Online ISSN : 1884-1015
Print ISSN : 0918-7162
ISSN-L : 0918-7162
日本高炉メーカーの高級鋼戦略
その堅実さと保守性
川端 望
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ジャーナル フリー

2006 年 2006 巻 21 号 p. 35-47,173

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In recent years, Japanese integrated steel producers are developing the strategy of concentrating their product mix on high grade steel. “High grade steel” is composed chiefly of high value-added steel products for manufacturing and energy/resource development industries.
The features of this high grade steel strategy can be described as follows:
Regarding product development, high value-added is not a goal in itself. Integrated producers are developing high-grade steel while cutting development and production costs. This is clear from the example of galvannealing sheets (GA) for the body panels of automobiles.
Regarding production process, Japanese integrated producers are investing abroad in rolling and secondary fabricating processes, while keeping and renovating ironmaking and steelmaking processes within Japan's borders. This pattern of international division of labor makes it easy to maintain the current characteristics of the production system for high-grade steel, which can be referred to as “Through Process Management” and “Process Linkage”.
Regarding the prospect of demand-supply relations in the middle term, integrated producers in Japan do not aim at rapid expansion of market share of high-grade steel globally. They are not going to take the high risk posed by the construction of new blast furnaces or acquisition of other integrated producers.
For all of these reasons, the high-grade steel strategy in Japan should be evaluated as steady and conservative, at least from the perspective of the middle term. Investment plans in the long term are not clear.
The steady and conservative behavior of Japanese integrated steel producers is a result of their status as global front runners. It is an open question what will be the long-term consequence of such corporate behavior. Much depends on the investment policies of the integrated producers. One possible policy is to make only investments that make immediate profit. The other is to make not only investments that make immediate profit but also investments for long-term improvement of technological capability. Their selection of long-term policy should be watched.

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