Automotive steel sheet alliances abound
By Staff -- Purchasing, 3/8/2001 2:00:00 AM
There has been a flurry of alliances in the steel industry worldwide in an attempt to maintain or expand sheet steel use in automotive applications:
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Nippon Steel of Japan and French steel giant Usinor have inked a 10-year global strategic alliance contract to develop new surface-processed automotive sheet steel products. "The auto industry, home to their biggest customers, is overhauling global operations, and the survival of steelmakers will depend on whether they can supply vehicle makers on a world scale," says Nippon Steel's president, Akira Chihaya.
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U. S. Steel Group and Kobe Steel of Japan have signed a cooperative agreement for research and development in automotive steel sheet technology. The alliance is expected to enhance the technical presence and capabilities of U. S. Steel and Kobe Steel among automakers in the U.S., Japan and Europe, and is a response to ever-expanding worldwide demand for new and improved steel sheet products and sheet product technologies for innovative automotive applications.
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Japan's NKK Corp. is in talks with German steel and engineering giant ThyssenKrupp to broaden their alliance and meet the quality demands of the auto industry.
Francis Mer, chairman of Usinor, says steelmakers worldwide "are facing the formidable challenge of responding to purchasing globalization among such steel users as automotive manufacturers, packaging companies and stainless steel fabricators." The two companies will work jointly on technologies for making lighter, stronger and better automotive sheet, and then address new-generation steels for packaging. They will also implement cooperation for purchasing and e-business, and pay special joint attention to environmental and safety issues related to steelmaking.
These two firms have formed a high-level committee to respond to customers' demands for new product development. Attention will be paid to the area of world-car design and supply, Mer adds. "Customers are increasingly powerful as they consolidate their operations and formulate demands on a global basis," said Jean-Louis Ricaud, senior executive vice president of Usinor. "We must be capable of responding at the same level everywhere in the world." Usinor already operates outside Europe, with joint-venture Thainox in Thailand, Acos Especiais Itabira and Siderurgica Tubarao in Brazil.
Nippon Steel's alliance with Usinor comes close on the heels of its "strategic partnership" with Pohang Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. (Posco) of South Korea, to collaborate in basic research and joint ventures in Asia. Nippon already has set up three joint ventures in Thailand-Siam United Steel for cold-rolled sheet, Siam Tinplate and Siam Nippon Steel Pipe-and is involved in two Chinese joint ventures-Guangzhou Pacific Tinplate and Nantong Baogang-Nippon Steel for steel bar production. In Indonesia, Nippon has a stake in Fumira for the production of galvanized and painted steel sheet, and Nippon Steel's Unigal project in Brazil produces hot-dipped galvanized steel sheet.
Meanwhile, NKK, Japan's second-largest steelmaker after Nippon Steel, and Thyssen Krupp Stahl also are planning a strategic alliance primarily covering automotive. "The move is aimed at better responding to increasing demands from major customers, such as automobile manufacturers, for the global supply of steel sheet," says an NKK spokesman. The NKK-Thyssen Krupp tie-up, as in the Nippon Steel-Usinor collaboration, is designed to supply high-tensile automotive steels of the same quality to auto manufacturing plants worldwide for major automakers that rapidly are globalizing their purchasing. The main focus in both cases is believed to be on steels for the lightweighting of autos. Also note that this tie-up would enable NKK, which operates in the North American automotive steel market through National Steel Corp. of Mishawaka, Ind., to establish a foothold in the European market.
Back home, U.S. Steel Group of Pittsburgh and Kobe Steel have signed a cooperative automotive steel sheet technology, an alliance to enhance the technical presence and capabilities of U. S. Steel and Kobe Steel among automakers in the U.S., Japan and Europe. "This cooperative agreement grew out of our highly successful joint venture with Kobe Steel, the PRO-TEC Coating Co., which has become the leading U.S. producer of high-tensile galvanized steel sheet for automotive applications," says Paul J. Wilhelm, president of U.S. Steel Group. "The alliance responds to the ever-expanding worldwide demand for new and improved steel sheet products and sheet product technologies for innovative automotive applications." Joint R & D collaboration under the agreement may include such areas as ultra-high tensile steel.
Where steel imports originated/(million net tons)
| 2000 | 1999 | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|
European Union |
7.02 |
6.63 |
5.9 |
Canada |
5.26 |
5.04 |
4.3 |
Brazil |
3.59 |
3.80 |
-5.5 |
Mexico |
3.26 |
3.52 |
-7.4 |
Korea |
2.68 |
2.94 |
-8.9 |
Japan |
2.13 |
3.06 |
-30.5 |
Ukraine |
1.55 |
0.79 |
96.6 |
Russia |
1.51 |
1.25 |
20.5 |
China |
1.46 |
0.77 |
89.0 |
Taiwan |
1.26 |
0.97 |
30.6 |
India |
1.00 |
0.59 |
70.6 |
Australia |
0.81 |
0.94 |
-13.2 |
Turkey |
0.67 |
0.40 |
66.1 |
South Africa |
0.645 |
0.59 |
9.3 |
Others |
5.00 |
4.45 |
12.2 |
|
Total |
37.83 |
35.73 |
5.9 |
SOURCE: COMMERCE |
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