Japan denies China's top position in steel, angrily lists two details, but is soon proven wrong!

Shigezo Hashimoto, chairman and CEO of Japan Iron & Steel, recently told the "Nikkei News" that "China only became the top by bundling multiple state-owned steel companies together, with actual profits only a fraction of those of Japan Iron."

But the next moment was embarrassing. Chinese netizens pointed out sharply that this statement attempts to deny China's global leadership in the steel industry using the "bundling theory" and "profit gap," but when combined with historical and real data, its logic is full of flaws and even violates basic industrial laws. In 2020, Baowu Group's annual production exceeded 107 million tons, becoming the first steel company in the world to break through 100 million tons, far exceeding Japan Iron's current capacity of 57.82 million tons.

In fact, China doesn't need to "bundle." The production capacity of any one of Baowu or Ansteel alone has already surpassed Japan Iron, and Baowu's output accounts for more than 5% of the global total. The funniest part is that Hashimoto claimed "without scale, technology development is difficult," and plans to increase Japan Iron's production to 100 million tons within ten years, which ironically proves the correctness of China's "scale supporting technology" approach.

To complete the acquisition of U.S. Steel, Japan Iron was forced to sign an agreement — issuing "golden shares" to the White House (granting the U.S. veto power); promising not to cut U.S. production capacity; and most board seats of U.S. Steel being occupied by American citizens. Hashimoto said Japan Iron would "return to the top within ten years," which is just a foolish statement made out of frustration due to China's competitiveness.

The "bundling theory" and "profit gap" arguments by Hashimoto are essentially a cover-up for Japan's lack of innovation and sluggish growth in the steel industry. China's top position in steel is the result of 70 years of technological accumulation, economies of scale, and a fully self-reliant industrial chain.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837609327206411/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.