Baosteel to overtake Nippon Steel as No. 2 steelmaker in 2009+

SHANGHAI, Dec. 17 Kyodo -
China's Baosteel Group Corp. is expected to overtake Nippon Steel Corp. as the
world's second-largest steelmaker this year in terms of output, Chinese
industry sources said Thursday.
The sources said Baosteel Group posted 31.58 million tons in crude steel
production on a consolidated basis in the January-October period, already
topping Nippon Steel's forecast that the Japanese steelmaker's group output
will total below 30 million tons for the whole year.
The change reflects the rise of China and the economic slump of Japan. It is
also symbolic of the shift in the balance of power between Japanese and Chinese
companies as Shanghai-based Baosteel Group received technical assistance from
Nippon Steel in the past.
ArcelorMittal of Luxembourg is the world's biggest steel company.
Measured by gross domestic product, China is on track to overtake Japan as the
world's second-largest economy next year.
A rise of competitiveness in Chinese steelmakers is likely to affect Nippon
Steel and other Japanese steel companies because China-bound exports make up
part of their earnings.
Steel demand is high in China, especially for automobiles. Sales of new
automobiles top 12 million units a year in China, making it the world's biggest
auto market.
Global crude steel output fell 13.5 percent in the January-October period from
a year earlier. But China, which has overcome the global economic downturn,
posted a 10.5 percent growth in production over the same period, accounting for
nearly half the global production.
In Japan, the economic slump forced automakers to sharply reduce output and
construction companies to scale back operations, pushing down steel output by
nearly 30 percent from a year earlier to the lowest level since 1971.
==Kyodo
2009-12-17 22:57:07