Japanese metallurgists took a course to intensify foreign expansion

Japanese steelmakers, amid a rebound in the domestic market following massive government stimulus, are looking to boost expansion overseas and are now taking over Asia despite an oversupply in the region.

The new overseas moves mean major Japanese steelmakers will produce more than half of their total automotive sheet steel at factories outside Japan by 2016 as their domestic market stagnates.

Executives at Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation and JFE Holdings are forced to accelerate their efforts overseas due to incentives from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a sales tax that came into effect in April. The executive vice president of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo said that automotive steel production in Indonesia is one of the key areas for investment.

Also, various options for investment programs abroad are being studied, including the production of crude steel. Now it is being determined which investments are the most profitable. Given the oversupply, driven mainly by Chinese production, Japanese factories are reluctant to invest in blast furnaces, but they are looking to expand their refineries and customers in Asia.

JFE's executive vice president said that “We need to be able to supply materials to the Asia and the rest of the world and achieve globalization of Japanese automakers. JFE plans to focus on expanding overseas refining capacity, but is also willing to look into overseas blast furnace manufacturing. ".