A big Japanese merger 一项重大的日本企业合并
Sumitomo and Nippon forge bonds of steel 住友商事与新日铁共铸钢铁股

Feb 3rd 2011, 11:02 by The Economist online | TOKYO 2011年2月3日 《经济学人》在线文章 | 东京

THE proposed merger of Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, with Sumitomo Metals, a domestic rival, was announced on February 3rd. The new steel firm would be the world’s second-largest, after ArcelorMittal of Luxembourg. It is a welcome sign that Japan Inc is adapting.
日本最大的钢铁公司新日铁在2月3日宣布其计划并购国内竞争对手住友金属。新组建的钢铁公司将位列卢森堡的阿塞洛米塔尔钢铁集团之后成为世界第二大钢铁公司。这是一个标志日本企业正在重整的利好信号。


Steel provided the backbone of Japan’s post-war industrial rise. Its quality—Japanese carmakers swear by it—still makes it a symbol of the country’s manufacturing prowess. A move to tie up Japan’s number one and number three steelmakers is a sign that the nation’s bosses are at last responding to the urgent need for corporate restructuring. It is the country’s first steel-industry merger since 2002, and comes as rising raw-material prices and steely competition from other East Asian producers have exposed alarming over-capacity.
钢铁对日本战后的工业腾飞提供了支柱。它的质量——日本汽车制造商以其立誓——仍使其成为国家制造业实力的象征。日本一号和三号钢铁制造商的合并行动预示国家管理层终于对企业重组的迫切要求作出回应。这是自2002年以来该国首次钢铁企业合并，源于不断上涨的原材料价格以及与其它东亚生产商进行钢铁业竞争而引发的产能过剩忧虑。

The merger, which both companies hope to sign in April 2012, is, to a degree, a family affair. Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals have roots in rival Osaka industrial groups, but now co-operate and have small cross-shareholdings, so they know each other well.
两个公司希望于2012年4月签署的该次合并，在某种意义上，是一项国内事务。新日铁与住友金属源于敌对的大阪工业集团，但近来的彼此合作和小额交叉持股使得他们很好了解彼此。

Together they have a capacity of 47.8m tonnes. That is well short of ArcelorMittal, which produced 73.2m tonnes in 2009. But perhaps putting together two producers of high-quality steel will be better than focusing on quantity alone. And if their example is followed elsewhere in Japan’s sclerotic corporate landscape, so much the better for the economy.
它们的产能总和达4780万吨。这远远满后于阿塞洛米塔尔钢铁集团，后者2009年的产量为7320万吨。但也许两个高质量钢生产商的联合将能单独以质量占优。而且如果此例能被日本陷入僵化状况的其它企业所效仿的话，那将对经济极为有利。