Toyota adopts special steel plates made in China for making EVs, nearing Japanese in quality

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

トヨタ、EVで中国製特殊鋼板採用　品質で日本勢に迫る

自動車・機械 環境エネ・素材 中国・台湾

2020/7/13 18:00 (2020/7/13 18:34更新) 日本経済新聞　電子版

電気自動車（EV）に使う電磁鋼板と呼ばれる高機能な鋼材について、トヨタ自動車が中国最大手の宝武鋼鉄集団の製品を一部で採用することが13日、分かった。同鋼板は高い生産技術が必要で、これまでは主に日系の製鉄大手から調達してきた。中国の鉄鋼業界は汎用品の大量供給を強みとしてきたが、質でも日本勢を追い上げ始めた。

トヨタが国内で生産するハイブリッド車（HV）とEV向けに、このほど品質面での承認を出した。宝武はすでに中国からの輸出を始めたもようだ。日本車大手が国内で生産する乗用車に中国メーカー製の電磁鋼板を採用するのは今回が初めてとみられる。

電磁鋼板は電動車の基幹部品であるモーターなどに使う。特殊な処理で鋼材に磁気を持たせており、不純物を取り除くなど高度な生産技術が必要になる。モーターの効率的な駆動には欠かせず、航続距離など省エネ性能に直結する。高い品質が求められるため、トヨタ向けなどの製品を供給できるのはこれまで日本製鉄など一部の鉄鋼大手に限られていた。

採用数量はまだ限られているもようだが、トヨタ幹部は「品質は日本製と遜色ない。電動車の普及が見込まれる中で調達先を多様化する」と語る。日本鉄鋼連盟の調査によると、宝武はEV大手の米テスラにも供給を始めたもようだ。

中国政府は2025年にEVなど環境対応車の割合を18年の4%から25%に高める計画を掲げる。中国はすでに世界で最もEVの販売台数が多い。35年のEV市場は中国が18年比13.7倍の1056万台と成長が続く見通し。欧州も同32.1倍の674万台と拡大が予想されている。

電磁鋼板の引き合いも増える中、製鉄首位の宝武が需要の取り込みを狙う。宝武は16年、国有企業の宝鋼集団（当時中国5位）と武漢鋼鉄集団（同11位）が合併して誕生した。世界鉄鋼協会によると、19年の粗鋼生産量では欧州アルセロール・ミタルに次いで世界2位だ。

電磁鋼板では中国でのシェアが6割に上っており、2023年までに上海市の製鉄所に24億元（約400億円）を投じてさらなる増産体制を整える。中国3位の江蘇沙鋼集団なども19年から生産能力の増強に乗り出している。

自動車向けを中心とする高付加価値品での中国勢の台頭に、国内大手は警戒を強めている。中国は世界の6割の粗鋼を生産するが、これまでは建材向けなどの汎用品が中心だった。中国が先端分野の技術力でも追いついてくれば、収益源にしている高機能品も価格の下落などが進みかねない。

Translation

Regarding high-performance steel called electromagnetic steel sheet used in electric vehicles (EV), it was understood that Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. would adopt some of the products of Bao Wu Steel Group which was the biggest in China. The steel sheet required high production technology and had been procured mainly from major Japanese steelmakers. While the Chinese steel industry had long been strong in the mass supply of general-purpose products, yet it had started to catch up with the Japanese in terms of quality.

For hybrid vehicles (HVs) and EVs that were produces domestically, Toyota had recently approved the quality of the product. It seemed that China Bao Wu had already started to export its products. This was the first time a major Japanese car manufacturer had adopted electromagnetic steel sheets manufactured by a Chinese manufacturer for use in passenger cars production in Japan.

Electromagnetic steel sheets were used for motors which were the core parts of electric vehicles. The steel was made to have magnetism by a special treatment, and an advanced production technology such as removing impurities was required. It was indispensable for efficient driving of the motor and was directly linked to energy-saving performance such as cruising range. Since high quality was required, until now it had been limited to some major steel companies such as Nippon Steel to supply products to Toyota and others.

Although it seemed that the number to be adopted was still limited, Toyota executives said that "the quality is comparable to that made in Japan. We will diversify our suppliers while expecting the electric vehicles would become popular". According to a survey conducted by the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, it seemed that Bao Wu had started supplying to Tesla, a major EV giant.

The Chinese government planned to increase the proportion of EVs and other environmentally friendly vehicles from 4% in 2018 to 25% in 2025. China had already sold the most EVs in the world. China was expected to continue to grow, and  the EV market in 2035 would reach 10.56 million units, which would be 13.7 times higher than in 2018. Europe was also expected to expand 32.1 times to 6.74 million units.

While the number of inquiries about electrical steel sheets was increasing, Bao Wu as the top steelmaker aimed to capture the demand. Bao Wu was born in 2016 when the state-owned enterprises Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd (5th place in China at that time) and Wuhan Steel Group (11th place) merged. According to the World Iron and Steel Institute, it ranked second in the world in crude steel production in 2019, after Europe's ArcelorMittal.

China had a 60% share of electromagnetic steel sheets, and by 2023 it would invest 2.4 billion yuan (about 40 billion yen) at a steel plant in Shanghai to establish a system to further increase production. The third-largest group in China, Jiangsu Shagang Group Co., Ltd. and others had also started to increase its production capacity since 2019.

With the rise of Chinese companies in high-value-added products mainly for automobiles, major Japanese companies were increasingly cautious. China produced 60% of the world's crude steel, but until now, it has mainly focused on general-purpose products such as building materials. If China could catch up with the technological strengths in advanced fields, prices of highly functional products, which were the source of profits, could decline.

              So, the high-quality steel production ability of China is approaching the world’s top standard. China will continue to compete with Japan and other leading countries in high quality steel production.