Showa society, a Japanese graphite company, will acquire Chinese graphite products enterprises;

Showa, a large Japanese enterprise, will enter China to produce graphite products and graphite carbon rods locally. We are going to acquire enterprises that produce graphite products and graphite carbon rods in China. At present, Showa's graphite products are produced in two factories in the United States and Japan, the largest demand countries. Because the steel production in China and Southeast Asia is expected to grow in the medium and long term, Showa has decided to enter China. It is estimated that the investment will be close to 4 billion yen. This is the first time that a Japanese enterprise produces graphite products and graphite carbon rods in China.
Zhaohe electric acquired Sinosteel Sichuan Carbon Co., Ltd., which is now a subsidiary of Sinosteel group.
A few days ago, Showa has reached an agreement with Sinosteel on the acquisition of 67% of the shares of Sichuan carbon. Before this autumn, Sichuan carbon will be approved by the Chinese government as a subsidiary.
Graphite products and high-temperature resistant graphite rods are important components of electric furnaces that melt scrap iron at high temperatures. The annual production capacity of carbon in Sichuan is 22000 tons, which is equivalent to 20000 pieces when converted into the current popular electrode size. However, the quality is not enough for steelmaking, which is limited to maintaining the furnace temperature. Therefore, Showa will invest nearly 1 billion yen in equipment modification in addition to spending nearly 3 billion yen on acquisition. It is expected to be put into operation in 2014.
Although some views point out that China's steel industry has excess capacity, the demand is gradually recovering and is expanding for a long time. At present, the proportion of electric furnace steel in the crude steel produced in China is very low, less than 9%. It is expected that the utilization of scrap iron will expand in the future, and the demand for graphite products will continue to grow at a rate of 5% ~ 10% per year. (used)