Where's the next big investment for Japanese players?

摘要

With the increasing demand in China for high quality automotive steel sheets, Japanese companies such as JFE and NSC have expanded to meet supply needs. Given booming demand of global steel market and rapidly changing global suppliers' map in steel, the big Japanese steel players are now looking for any opportunities for the next big investment, possibly somewhere in Asia. In March 2007, Japan's JFE Steel announced that - in company with China's Guangzhou Iron and Steel (GIS) - it will expand the business of its joint venture Guangzhou JFE Steel Sheet Company Ltd (GJSS), to produce and market hot-dip galvanised steel sheets in the southern part of mainland China. The expansion plan aims to meet the increasing Chinese demand for high quality automotive steel sheets and follows an earlier venture in the same field by Baosteel-NSC/Arcelor Automotive Steel Sheets Co, Ltd (BNA), based in the southern coastal region of China. Meanwhile, Nippon Steel (NSC) has made successive efforts to strengthen its ties with global raw material suppliers and hot metal producers, in addition to increasing downstream facilities in the Asian region, particularly after the industry-shaking merger between Mittal and Arcelor last year. Given the booming demand of the global steel market and the rapidly changing global suppliers' map for steel, the big Japanese steel players are now looking for opportunities for the next big investment, possibly somewhere in Asia.