The Japanese Steel Industry-Assessment and Particularities from a German Viewpoint

摘要

The opportunities afforded by today's high-speed information exchange have greatly amplified our mutual interest in cultural, scientific and technological developments, whether in the West or in the East. This exchange has not, however, led to an equalization of conditions on a global scale, since events and developments are strongly dependent on local factors such as culture, education, training on the one hand and available raw materials, energy supply and market conditions on the other hand. This is also true for the steel industry, despite the fact that, at first sight, it certainly constitutes one of the most mature technological activities of industrialized societies anywhere. The present document addresses differences in crude steel making between the highly developed steel industries of Japan and Germany, and presents some existing assessments and expectations from economic and technical points of view.