Japan is a small country with insufficient resources, and its steel output, workers' production efficiency and export competitiveness are among the best. In the past 50 years, the average annual steel output has exceeded 654.38 billion tons. Is there anything to say behind this?
The road to the rise of Japanese steel
As we all know, Japan calls itself a "small resource country". The proven recoverable reserves of iron ore are only 20 million tons, with low grade, and almost all of them depend on imports. The proven coal reserves are only 8 billion tons, and the annual coal import is close to 200 million tons.
Second, the capitalist industry developed late and the steel industry had a poor foundation. 1900, the steel output of the United States has exceeded 1 00000 tons, while that of Japan is less than100000 tons. The highest wartime steel output in Japan was 1943, 7.65 million tons, and that in the United States exceeded 80 million tons. After World War II, Japan's steel output dropped to 560,000 tons in 1946, but it took more than 20 years for this country with insufficient natural endowment to develop into a world steel power.
Looking back at the development history of Japanese iron and steel, the reason why it can grow is inseparable from good internal and external conditions. With the support of the world, the United States has caught up with the rapid growth of steel consumption in the capitalist world for 20 years; At home, with the support of the government, we make full use of the favorable environment of low wages in Japan, introduce a large number of advanced technologies, and build modern coastal factories.
After World War II, Americans fought two large-scale local wars: the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and Japan was an important base for American military supplies. A large number of military orders stimulated the development of Japan's steel industry. The Japanese government has also implemented policies to support the iron and steel industry and heavy chemical industry, giving preferential conditions such as economic subsidies, loans and tax relief.
The wage level in Japan is lower than that in developed countries in Europe and America. Capitalists can get more surplus value from workers. In the early 1950s, the labor productivity of Japanese steel workers was a quarter of that of the United States, and their wages were only a seventh of that of the United States. When the production efficiency of Japanese steel workers exceeds that of the United States, the wage level is still only 60% of the other side.