Dofasco seeks world auto supply alliances
By Staff -- Purchasing, 3/11/1999
Dofasco, Canada's second-largest steelmaker, wants to forge a future in customized steels delivered to world automakers from its own mills or from those of its global partners.Dofasco is relatively small by world standards but enjoys the reputation of being a major supplier to Ford Motor. "You have DaimlerChrysler and Ford-Volvo and the advent of a world car, so there is going to be a push for a common face across the table," suggests Dofasco president John Mayberry. "I think the key is your intellectual capital, your technology, and your global alliances."
The Hamilton, Ont.-based company has hopes that its customized steelmaking technology will win it contracts to supply steel for new world car automotive platforms. The technology was key in its acquisition of a contract from auto parts maker Magna International for supplying General Motors's GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado.
Dofasco's new galvanized steel joint venture with Sollac, a unit of France's Usinor, should also assist in its quest for world car mandates. "If they go to a world car, it doesn't matter where the client goes, they get the same design and technology," Mayberry says.
Dofasco's increased reliance on customized cold-rolled and galvanized sheet steel production at the expense of hot-rolled steel accounted for a 13% growth in net earnings in each of the first three quarters of 1998.
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