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Japanese mill exec critiques U.S. trade stance.

Article Excerpt
Editor's note: Following are excerpts of remarks by Tsukasa Kose, president of Kobe Steel USA Inc., who addressed the Association of Steel Distributors fall conference Oct. 17 in Las Vegas on U.S. trade issues and Asian market conditions.

Kobe Steel is the fourth largest integrated steel producer in Japan. Kobe's main steel products include sheets, plates, wire rods and bars, steel powders, titanium, and steel castings and forgings....

Producing over seven million tons of crude steel last year, we can by no means say we are one of the biggest steel producers. Where we do stand out, however, is our focus on upper-end steels. Under our current medium-term business plan, we are building up our position as a producer of distinctive products....

Japan's economy is emerging from a decade of stagnation. This year, Japan's GDP growth is estimated to be around 4 percent, which is almost parallel to that of the United States. Under the improved economic conditions, all Japanese steel producers are currently operating at full capacity, sometimes having difficulty meeting the demand from customers. This year, we expect a continued high level of production, similar to last year's crude steel production of 110 million metric tons.

In the past few years, overall steel exports from Japan have been on an upward trend. However, exports to the United States declined to just...

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