Subject: [cwj 102] Link-up for Japan shipbuilders
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 11:13:27 -0700
Seq: 102
For more information on the problems of shipbuilding and shipbreaking, check out http://www.corpwatch-jp.org/intl/index.htm (IN JAPANESE ONLY) Link-up for Japan shipbuilders By Emiko Terazono in Tokyo Financial Times Published: September 12 2000 Japanese shipbuilders Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, said they were close to finalising an agreement to integrate their commercial shipbuilding operations. Japan's shipbuilding industry is under pressure to consolidate because the high yen is eroding margins and competition from South Korea is intensifying. Korean shipbuilders have been blamed by competitors and their governments - including the European Union - for offering cut throat prices and depressing international shipbuilding price levels. The combined annual revenue of the shipbuilding operations of the three companies is expected to total over Y300bn ($2.8bn), surpassing that of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the industry leader. The three companies declined to offer details, but they are reportedly seeking an initial alliance to consolidate supply procurement, orders and design. This could be followed by the integration of the units into a joint venture. The move follows an agreement last September between Kawasaki Heavy and Mitsui to co-operate in procurement, design and technological development, and merge their information systems. Since then, the two companies have worked together in a few projects, including designing bulk carriers. The three-way alliance may expand to include Sumitomo Heavy Industries, with which IHI is under negotiations to integrate their operations which provide naval vessels to the Defence Agency. Among other leading Japanese shipbuilders, NKK and Hitachi Zosen have been in talks to link their commercial shipbuilding operations since May. FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Corporate Watch in Japanese is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability, human rights, economic democracy and social justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. ------------------------------------- Corporate Watch in Japanese Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC) P.O. Box 29344 San Francisco, CA 94129 USA Tel: 1-415-561-6472 Fax: 1-415-561-6493 Email: cwj@corpwatch.org URL: http://www.corpwatch-jp.org ------------------------------------- ______________________ The Corporate Watch in Japanese http://www.corpwatch.org/japan (CWJ) mailing list is a moderated email list in English designed to connect activists campaigning against Japanese corporations and investments around the world. * To unsubscribe from the CWJ mailing list, send an email to majordomo@jca.apc.org with text "unsubscribe cwj". To subscribe to the CWJ mailing list, send a message to majordomo@jca.apc.org with the text "subscribe cwj" * The CWJ mailing list is NOT intended for wide distribution. If you would like to post messages from this list somewhere else, we ask that you first contact us at cwj@corpwatch.org ______________________