COKING COAL PROCUREMENT POLICIES OF THE JAPANESE STEEL MILLS - CHANGES AND IMPLICATIONS

The paper provides an overview of the Japanese integrated steel mills' procurement policies for coking coal during the past three decades an d the economic rationale underpinning them, Following an analysis of r ecent developments in the Japanese coking coal market, the direction o f future change to those policies is examined using a diversity index, The diversity analysis shows that Japan's procurement policies have b ecome less diversified in recent years as a result of changing technol ogy and institutional structure, The implication for coking coal produ cers is that changing technologies have had, and will continue to have , strong influences on demand for coal used in steel making and hence the source of supply, Moreover, as the market becomes more competitive , ability to provide the right products at competitive prices, rather than the existing institutional arrangements, will be the main determi nant of market share. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.