Baosteel intends to urgently fill up the gaps in Japanese domestic car plates

The reporter learned from the Baosteel Group yesterday that the major earthquakes in Japan caused the suspension of the production of the top three automakers in Japan. The three major Japanese automakers in Guangzhou, such as Dongfeng Nissan, Guangzhou Automobile Honda, Guangzhou Automobile Toyota, etc., were also affected to varying degrees. A few days ago, Baosteel timely initiated the emergency response plan for Baosteel South Automotive Steel, and fully supported the stable production of the three major Japanese automobile plants in Guangzhou.

The three major Japanese automobile plants in Guangzhou still need to import some steel plates and key auto parts from Japan. Miyagi Prefecture is one of Toyota’s major production bases in Japan and an important component supporting center of Toyota Motor; Saitama Prefecture owns three factories of Honda Automobiles and parts factories that produce crankshafts and transmissions; Nissan’s automobiles are located in Fukuoka Prefecture. Fukushima Prefecture has assembly plants and engine factories. On March 11th, the earthquake in Japan severely damaged Japanese automobiles and their core parts manufacturing companies located in these areas. In addition, steel mills such as JFE, Sumitomo Metal, and Nippon Kimitsu have also stopped production or reduced production.

Baosteel Group stated that Baosteel International arranged for the South Company to pay attention to the impact of the strong earthquake in Japan on the three major Japanese automobile plants in Guangzhou. On the evening of March 11th, the South Company and the Baosteel Automotive Board Division jointly formed an emergency team. They contacted the heads of the procurement departments of the three major Japanese automobile plants in Guangzhou, and urgently submitted countermeasures.

On March 13, Baosteel clearly stated that it would actively cooperate with the three major Japanese automobile plants in Guangzhou to initiate the localization of steel for emergency use to resolve the possible shortage of imported supplies and fully safeguard it. User production is stable. This indicates that domestic large steel mills have begun to actively fill the short-term market gap caused by the earthquake. However, there are also industry insiders who say that the purchase of raw materials for automobile plants is usually signed with long-term or even exclusive agreements. It remains to be seen whether Baosteel can take this opportunity to lay down a long-term supply chain.

In addition, the latest list of the top 20 global steel companies has also been released, with Chinese steel companies occupying 9 seats. ArcelorMittal is still the world's largest steel company, and China's Hebei Iron and Steel Group and Baosteel Group still ranks second and third.