Chapter 1417 Four Major Steel Core Areas
Although East Africa did not contribute much to the advancement of the world's political system and even played a negative role, this did not affect the strong recovery of the East African economy in 1924.
There is only one year left before the end of the East Africa "Five-Year Plan". Because the beginning of the Five-Year Plan was affected by the European epidemic and the world economic depression, many projects in the Five-Year Plan have been postponed.
This led to the implementation of large-scale projects in East Africa as the Fifth Five-Year Plan was coming to an end. In addition, the world economy had emerged from the depression at this time. The East African economy reversed its previous downward trend in 1924, and various economic and industrial fields developed by leaps and bounds, even surpassing the period of World War I.
During World War I, East Africa benefited from the war in Europe and had the support of many overseas markets, so its industrial capacity exploded rapidly. However, as soon as World War I ended, East Africa's industry was immediately "beaten back to its original form" and suffered severe damage.
In the following years, affected by the epidemic and economic depression, the economy has been sluggish. The strong recovery of the East African economy in 1924 also meant that East Africa had digested most of the gains from World War I.
For example, the large number of overseas colonies and newly opened overseas markets acquired by East Africa during World War I filled the gap in overseas orders after the end of World War I and provided East Africa with a stable supply of cheaper and more abundant raw materials.
At the same time, with the adjustment of East Africa's economic policies and the influence of the international environment, the demand in East Africa's domestic market has also been readjusted and recovered, showing a more vigorous demand than during the war.
Simply put, at this time, the people of East Africa have regained confidence in the market, and coupled with the more equitable distribution brought about by domestic economic reforms, the purchasing power and consumption desire of the people of East Africa have been improved to a certain extent.
This level of change has a huge impact on the national level. After all, East Africa itself is a super market with a population of over 100 million.
Rhine Palace.
Minister of Industry Mette reported to Ernst with an excited look on his face: "Your Majesty, if nothing unexpected happens, our country's total steel production will exceed 40 million tons in 1924. This also means that during the Fifth Five-Year Plan, the Empire's steel industry will not only fully recover, but will also set a new historical peak in our country's steel production."
Steel production is one of the most intuitive data on the degree of industrialization of a major country. In 1924, East Africa's steel production exceeded 40 million tons. This will also be the first country in the world in this time and space to have an annual steel production exceeding 40 million tons.
In fact, at the end of World War I, the United States' steel production exceeded 40 million tons, that is, before the 1920s, but now the United States' steel production is only more than 30 million tons.
Although the emergence of East Africa has prevented American steel from reaching the heights of its previous life, the combined steel production of the two countries is indeed a terrifying number, which should have reached an astonishing 70 million tons in 1924.
In addition to the two "freaks" of East Africa and the United States, Germany's steel production performance in 1924 was also quite good, and there is a possibility of exceeding 20 million tons in the future, barely being in the first echelon with East Africa and the United States.
The United Kingdom, which ranked fourth in the world, may have produced nearly 10 million tons of steel in 1924. As for other industrial countries, their output was at the level of millions or hundreds of thousands of tons. If it was lower, they would basically be agricultural countries.
Ernst feels very satisfied with the current development trend of the steel industry in East Africa. The steel industry in the empire and even the world is developing by leaps and bounds.
This also means to a large extent that the world economy has officially entered the post-war prosperity, and in the next few years, governments around the world will likely have a much better time.
Ernst asked: "How is the upgrading of our steel industry going now?"
Mette replied: "The explosion of steel production in the empire this year has been greatly contributed by the two new steel industrial bases in Tete and Leitania provinces."
"The steel production in Tete has exceeded four million tons, making it the world's third largest steel production center, after Pennsylvania in the United States and the Ruhr area in Germany."
As the heart of European industry, the Ruhr area ranks first in the world in steel production, with an annual steel output of tens of millions of tons. As for Pennsylvania, it is the state with the most developed steel industry in the United States, with an annual steel output of over six million tons.
However, the distribution of industry in Germany is very uneven. The steel production capacity in the Ruhr area accounts for most of Germany's steel production, and the Rhine River shipping serves as a support for the import and export of raw materials.
The steel producing areas in East Africa and the United States are basically divided into multiple cores, while East Africa is more dispersed than the United States. The steel production in the United States is concentrated in the Great Lakes Industrial Zone, and Pennsylvania is located within the Great Lakes Industrial Zone.
The states surrounding Pennsylvania also have strong steel industries. For example, the neighboring state of Indiana has the largest steel plant in the United States, the Gary Steel Plant.
However, although the Gary Steel Plant has the largest output, reaching an astonishing annual output of 3 million tons, Pennsylvania is able to win by quantity. There are as many as three steel mills in Pennsylvania with an annual output of more than one million tons.
In addition, Pennsylvania has many small and medium-sized steel mills, so Pennsylvania is undoubtedly the core area of the current US steel industry. The former capital of the United States, Philadelphia, and the famous industrial city of Pittsburgh are both located in Pennsylvania.
East Africa has four major steel industry clusters, which can be simply divided into the eastern, central, southern and western production areas.
The Eastern Steel is centered in Tete Province (located in Mozambique). Relying on the rich local coal and iron ore resources, Tete Province has become one of the fastest-growing regions in the steel industry in East Africa in recent years.
The central steel industry is centered in Bohemia Province (located in Zimbabwe). Bohemia Province is a traditional heavy industrial base in East Africa with rich resources. In recent years, special steel products have developed rapidly.
Southern Steel is centered in Hansa Province (where South Africa and Mozambique meet). Hansa Province has always been one of the most important steel production bases in East Africa, and steel is the pillar industry of its capital, the Port of New Hamburg.
Of course, the conditions for the development of the steel industry in Hansa Province are also the most unique in the whole of East Africa. Relying on the South African plateau, it is located in the area with the largest coal reserves in East Africa, and its iron ore resources are also very rich.
What is more important is the Hanseatic Province's maritime advantages. The Port of New Hamburg and Maputo are both important coastal industrial cities in East Africa, facilitating the import of steel raw materials and the export of finished steel products.
Finally, there is Western Steel, with Letania Province (located in Angola) as its core. Its main advantage lies in the high-quality iron ore resources in western East Africa. In recent years, with the development of East African railways and other transportation, the basic conditions for the development of Western industry have been established and it has developed relatively rapidly.
So, as of now, except for the northern part of East Africa, other regions have their own steel industry core areas.
This is not to say that there is no steel industry in northern East Africa, but that the number of steel mills in the north is small and small in scale, almost negligible compared to other regions in East Africa.
However, even in northern East Africa, steel production exceeds that of many countries in the world, and the northern steel industry is concentrated in three provinces: Northern Province (located in Somalia), Ubangi Province (located in the Central African Republic), and Turkana Province (where Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia meet).
Therefore, the provinces of Letania and Tete, which Minister Mette emphasized, are two of the newest super-large steel industry clusters in East Africa in recent years.
Minister Mette said: "In addition, the steel industry in traditional industrial provinces such as Bohemia, Hanseatic Province, and Lorraine has also developed rapidly, and many small and medium-sized emerging steel companies have also been established in coastal areas."
"During the Fifth Five-Year Plan, my country focused on newly established private steel companies and formulated new regulations to improve their production efficiency and competitiveness and eliminate outdated production capacity."
"As for large state-owned steel enterprises, we will promote institutional reforms and equipment upgrades. This year, the output of Tete Province's First Steel Plant is expected to reach 3 million tons."
"However, the most widespread and far-reaching impacts are still those traditional steel production bases. For example, in Bohemia Province, the steel industry upgrade has been fully launched, and the current progress has reached 70%. It is expected that by the end of the 5th Five-Year Plan, the steel industry upgrade in Bohemia Province will be completely completed."
"In addition, some new steel mills are planned to be built in Hechingen, Orange and Baden, which means that the steel industry in the south will be further developed in the future."
The provinces of Hechingen, Orange and Baden are actually the South African Plateau region in East Africa, the area with the most concentrated mineral resources in East Africa and the treasure trove of the Republic of South Africa in the past.
In the last century, after East Africa won the South African War, it was not in a hurry to develop the region in order to avoid arousing the jealousy and covetousness of the British.
Now, East Africa is no longer threatened by Britain's South African region, so large-scale development of the southern provinces has naturally begun.
However, the current difficulty in developing the South African plateau lies in the local water resources problem. Therefore, to fully stimulate local industries, we have to wait until the East-to-West Water Diversion Project is completed. At that time, the industrial and agricultural output of the southern provinces of East Africa will be released.
Mette went on to say: “With the layout and development of these steel industry sectors and the stimulation of domestic economic development, it is expected that my country’s steel industry will experience a new round of explosion in the next five-year plan period.”
Although East Africa has become the world's largest steel producer, the potential of East Africa's steel industry has not yet been fully developed.
This is even more obvious when compared with the United States. Although the United States' steel production is not as high as East Africa's, it should be noted that the US population is tens of millions less than East Africa.
Moreover, the current level of urbanization in East Africa is far behind that in the United States, which means that there is still a long way to go for urban expansion and development in East Africa. This has created huge demand for infrastructure, thus providing new space for the development of the steel industry in East Africa.
Of course, the comparison with the United States is not entirely meaningful. After all, the United States and East Africa are two "freaks". The development of the steel industry in industrial countries such as Britain, France and Germany shows that the current international market demand for steel is not too strong.
This is actually quite contradictory. For example, the steel industry in Britain and France develops very slowly, which shows that the demand for steel in the two countries' markets is not high. But in fact, if their colonies are also regarded as part of them, the situation is completely different.
Take Britain's Indian colony for example. India has a huge demand for steel, but its per capita purchasing power is extremely low. Britain obviously will not engage in large-scale industrial construction for colonies like India for the sake of colonial development.
However, the UK occupies this huge market with great potential and does not allow other countries to enter, treating it as a private reserve for its own economy. In this way, British domestic steel companies basically do not need to be too inward-looking and can still make a lot of money.
This is obviously not conducive to the self-innovation and technological progress of British steel companies. Once the market is liberalized, they are bound to be hit hard by steel companies in emerging industrial countries such as East Africa, the United States, and Germany.
Of course, other countries can only envy the British for their "suffering", which is why Germany did not hesitate to launch the First World War in an attempt to break the hegemony of Britain and France.
As for the United States and East Africa, there is still potential for development in their domestic markets, so they are not in a hurry to directly compete with traditional industrial countries such as Britain and France.
Ernst said to Minister Mette: "At this stage, the two tasks of the Imperial Steel Industry are to meet the needs of domestic industrial and social development. We must advance this steadily and step by step, and especially avoid the situation in the United States where steel companies rush in blindly because of financial and market factors."
"This requires us to further optimize the system and fairness of the domestic steel market, promote the further optimization of the overall steel industry structure, and achieve a comprehensive, hierarchical, healthy and reasonable development model."
"Second, competition in the international steel market should guide my country's steel companies to continue to improve their scientific research and innovation capabilities and production efficiency, thereby promoting the overseas competitiveness of steel products, especially in competing for mid- to high-end overseas markets."
"This also further requires that my country's steel companies coordinate the contradiction between quality and price, so that they can seize more overseas markets and compete with steel companies in Europe and the United States."
"There will inevitably be some conflicts between the domestic and overseas markets. The government should strike a balance and try its best to coordinate the national steel industry towards the optimal solution."
In summary, the general direction of East African steel companies at this stage is still continuous innovation and development. Only in this way can East African steel companies gain a firm foothold in international competition. Even if an economic crisis comes, the impact on East African companies will be minimal.
Before breaking the old colonial system, East African steel companies will inevitably have to experience more brutal competition in the international market. Although East Africa also has many overseas colonies, most of these overseas colonies are suppliers of raw materials and cannot provide more market share.
This is also related to East Africa's past colonial strategy. East Africa carried out large-scale genocide overseas, which in turn destroyed the original market of the East African colonies. After all, all the people were killed, so the demand naturally disappeared. If we really want to cultivate the colonial market again, we have to wait for many years for the population of these colonies to recover.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
