Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano said on Thursday METI supports steel industry in various aspects including counteraction for overvalued yen, globalization and securing raw materials. He said at New Year party of Japan Iron and Steel Federation the government tries to realize yen rate matching Japanese economy fundamentals. He also said METI makes an arrangement in energy policy including renewable energy encouragement scheme to support international competitiveness of steel industry
METI’s director general of manufacturing industries bureau Takayuki Ueda said to a reporter of Japan Metal Bulletin capturing growing offshore demand is more important for Japanese steel industry when domestic steel demand wouldn’t increase. He said the makers should keep domestic operations for high valued products while the makers should improve the competitiveness in technology and manufacturing. He expects the industry would select what they should keep in domestic operation and what they should promote globalization. Mr. Ueda said Japanese steel industry should increase captive raw materials by utilizing higher yen rate while Japanese industry’s equity iron ore is around 20%. He said the government supports the securing raw materials through loan, investment and debt guarantee by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC). Mr. Ueda said Japanese steel industry should transfer energy saving technology to other countries for lower carbon dioxide emission while the industry should reduce the own emission. He expects the industry keeps investing in technology to use lower grade raw materials and innovative hydrogen reduction process.
